Chapter 29 Gao Gong talks about geography
After Zhu Zaijing dried his hair, he came out of the inner room again.
Zhu Zaijing apologized to Gao Gong: "Mr. Gao has been waiting for a long time."
Gao Gong looked at the apologetic Zhu Zaijing and bowed, " How dare you, Your Majesty, please take a seat."
Zhu Zaijing said politely to Gao Gong, "Mr. Gao, please take a seat."
After the two of them sat down, the little eunuchs waiting outside also brought two cups of tea with great discernment and placed them next to Zhu Zaijing and Gao Gong respectively.
After Gao Gong saw the teacup placed next to him, he apologized slightly to Zhu Zaijing to express his gratitude.
At this time, Zhu Zaijing also looked at Gao Gong expectantly and asked, "I wonder what skills Mr. Gao plans to teach the students today?"
Zhu Zaijing entered the role very quickly, He directly calls himself a student and does not use the title "I" or "I" anymore.
After Gao Gong heard the title of Zhu Zaijing's student, he couldn't restrain his excitement.
I couldn't help but think in my heart, how many virtuous kings could there be in ancient and modern times who were so courteous to virtuous people?
After gathering his excitement, Gao Gong replied: "Today I plan to teach the prince some geography knowledge."
When Zhu Zaijing heard that Gao Gong wanted to teach him geography, his expression changed. I was also stunned. Yesterday, Gao Gong said that Shang Junshu was from the book. Why did it change to geography today?
Does the formal education of the Ming prince include geography? This seems to be a subject that is only available in modern education in later generations.
Zhu Zaijing expressed doubts about this.
Zhu Zaijing asked: "Why do you want to teach students geography?"
Gao Gong replied: "The identity of the prince is different from that of ordinary people, and also different from that of ordinary princes. After the death of Prince Zhuang Jing, the prince Even your majesty’s oldest living son has responsibilities that are naturally different from those in the past.”
“The purpose of teaching the prince geography is to enable the prince to have an understanding of the territory of the Ming Dynasty and the surrounding tribes and vassal states. A definite understanding.”
When Zhu Zaijing heard Gao Gong’s reason, he nodded in agreement. He felt that Gao Gong was extraordinary. Even his teaching was so pragmatic that he skipped it directly. After reading the Four Books, Five Classics and the Classics and History, I started directly with geography. It’s really amazing!
Zhu Zaijing said: "Please teach me, sir."
Gao Gong cleared his throat, then opened the notes he brought and handed them to Zhu Zaijing.
Zhu Zaijing looked at the notes handed over by Gao Gong and quickly stood up to catch them with both hands. Zhu Zaijing glanced at the notes he just took in his hand. The page he opened on it was a simple map of the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the drawing was very rough
Of course, if this picture makes other people who have never seen it People who see the real map may be surprised and miraculous when they see the real map. It turns out that this is what the Ming Dynasty looked like.
Gao Gong said: "The territory of the Ming Dynasty is thousands of miles away, including the Han Dynasty, two capitals and thirteen provinces, as well as Liaodong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet and other restricted areas, and there are one hundred and fourteen provinces in the surrounding area. Eighteen tributary countries. Fifteen of them are the countries that Emperor Taizu planned not to conquer, namely, Korea, Japan, Da Ryukyu (now Okinawa), Xiao Liuqiu, Annan (now northern Vietnam), and Zhen. La Kingdom (now Cambodia), Siam Kingdom (now Thailand), Champa Kingdom (now southern Vietnam, later destroyed by Annan), Sumatra (now Paxi, Sumatra Island), Western Kingdom (now Coromandel Coast) ), Java Kingdom (today's Java Island), Penheng Kingdom (today's Malay Peninsula), Baihua Kingdom (today's northwest Sumatra Island), Srivijaya Kingdom (today's Palembang, Sumatra Island), Bo Ni Kingdom (Brunei) Waiting for the country.”
"The remaining more than one hundred countries are the countries where Taizong Chengzu and Emperor Yongle sent the Three Treasures eunuch Zheng He when he sailed to the West. He brought back the country's prestige and tens of thousands of miles to pay tribute. And of these more than one hundred countries, there are few paying tribute now."
“Therefore, the geography that I want to talk about today is limited to the Han Dynasty in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, as well as the surrounding restricted areas and the fifteen-year-old country.”
Zhu Zaijing, who was familiar with history, knew that during the Yongle Emperor's period, Zheng He made friends with many countries on his voyages to the West, but Zhu Zaijing did not know that the number of these countries had reached 148!
This is truly an unprecedented and unprecedented world!
Zhu Zaijing took a breath and sighed: "I didn't expect Emperor Taizong to be so powerful!"
Gao Gong felt embarrassed when he heard Zhu Zaijing call Emperor Yongle Emperor Taizong. He had also called Emperor Yongle the wrong temple name just now.
At this time, Gao Gong also reminded him in time: "Your Majesty should call Emperor Taizong Emperor Chengzu. In the seventeenth year of Jiajing, His Majesty had already issued an edict to honor Emperor Taizong as Emperor Chengzu, and also ordered Emperor Chengzu to be with Emperor Taizu is the ancestor of immortality.”
After hearing Gao Gong’s reminder, Zhu Zaijing also curled his lips secretly, Emperor Chengzu is so nondescript, how can there be Emperor Taizong. Sounds good?
Besides, considering the achievements of Emperor Yongle, when it comes time for him to come out of the Imperial Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices, it is unlikely that any emperor will really dare to do so.
So Zhu Zaijing thought that his current father, Taoist Master Jiajing, had raised the temple name of Emperor Yongle from ancestral to ancestral, so he might as well not lift it up. What the hell was going on!
If this world is really spiritual, after the old Taoist priest dies, he will probably be beaten on the head by Zhu Di when he goes underground!
After all, the political significance of Emperor Yongle’s Taizong temple name is too great. Calling him Taizong shows that he is the emperor who inherited the throne. Doesn’t calling him Chengzu confirm the fact that he rebelled and usurped the throne?
Therefore, Zhu Zaijing was also very disdainful of the fact that Emperor Jiajing promoted Emperor Yongle to Emperor Chengzu.
Zhu Zaijing sometimes even thought about waiting until he came to the throne to rename the temple name for Emperor Yongle as "Shizu", and then change the temple name of the old Taoist priest to the one that originally belonged to Zhu Zaijing's future son, Emperor Wanli. The temple name "Shenzong" allows the old Taoist priests to seek benevolence and gain benevolence, and to have a good "god" and live the addiction to gods.
But now Zhu Zaijing can only think about it in his heart. He still doesn’t have the courage or ability to do such a rebellious and unethical thing. If he wants to do it, he will have to wait until the old Taoist priest Long Yu Bintian from Jiajing. , you have to be the master of your own affairs.
Zhu Zaijing said, "Students have remembered."
Then Gao Gong began to teach Zhu Zaijing about the geography of the Ming Dynasty again.
Gao Gong said: "The Ming Dynasty has two capitals and thirteen provinces, namely Beijing North Zhili and Nanjing South Zhili. The thirteen provinces are Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Huguang, and Jiangxi. , Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Fujian, etc. There are also differences between the two Zhili and the various chief envoys, such as Southern Zhili and Huguang. Zhejiang and other places were rich in finance and taxation during the Ming Dynasty. The salary and food supply of Beijing officials were all supplied by the canal from Zhili and other places in the south. It can be said that the current stability of the imperial court is also dependent on this road that spans several provinces in the north and south. "On the canal of the land."
"So the prince must pay attention to the canal, pay attention to southern Zhili, Huguang, Zhejiang and other places, no matter how difficult it is for Ming Dynasty to be stable. , you can also use time to resolve it. If the taxes in these places collapse, the consequences will be disastrous! ”
Gao Gong seriously talked to Zhu Zaijing about the importance of the canal and Nanzhili and other places. After hearing what Gao Gong said, Zhu Zaijing also sighed secretly in his heart. Such a big Ming Dynasty actually tied its life to such a big thing. On a fragile canal, no wonder the political struggles in Beijing are always so thrilling. It turns out it’s all about money!
(End of this chapter)