After bowing sincerely and thanking him, Zhao Ceying sat back in his seat and looked at Wei Chen with a look of deep respect and even dependence.
From Yuzhou to Bianjing, since Zhao Ceying became a disciple of Wei Chen, Wei Chen taught Zhao Ceying a lot.
He served as the president of the Yuzhou Jun Porcelain Guild and handled the Jun Porcelain trade; he managed the Health and Epidemic Prevention Department and was responsible for promoting the method of vaccination; he participated in the practice of constricting water to attack sand and witnessed the rise of the Baili Dam from the ground...
It was precisely when Wei Chen let Zhao Ceying practice and teach him how to manage the world through words and deeds that he became King Huan, who is now regarded by the courtiers as "quite capable of doing things".
Now, not long after Zhao Ceying first entered Bianjing and had not fully adapted to his status as a prince and was at a loss, Wei Chen appeared again and pointed out the way forward for Zhao Ceying from a high position.
Zhao Ceying admired his teacher's ability and vision, and he was even more grateful to Wei Chen in his heart.
What's even more rare is that Wei Chen can put himself in Zhao Ceying's shoes and make all his plans from Zhao Ceying's point of view. How can Zhao Ceying not love and rely on such a teacher?
"Teacher's teachings today are all from the bottom of his heart. The students will definitely remember them in their hearts. It's just..."
Zhao Ceying paused, a little confused: "It's just that the student didn't think well before, and he had already patted his chest from his father and wanted to get the jade seal for him. If he suddenly repeats it, he might not be able to explain it to his father."
"I see."
Wei Chen also just found out about this. Although he and Zhao Ceying had already set the guiding ideology for the future, they could not break their promises.
After pondering for a moment, Wei Chen slowly said: "Your Highness, in fact, these two things do not conflict."
"Oh? Please ask the teacher to teach me." Zhao Ceying turned slightly and accepted the teaching humbly.
Wei Chen said with a smile: "His Majesty has been on the throne for a few years. Things have been corrected both inside and outside the court. It is the will of the people to withdraw the curtain and return to power. It is the general trend. Your Highness thinks that the Queen Mother herself does not understand this truth?"
"Of course I understand." Zhao Ceying responded without hesitation.
"Since the Queen Mother clearly knows that the government will be returned to His Majesty sooner or later, why does she delay?"
When Wei Chen said this, he was not in a hurry to give an answer, but paused and looked at Zhao Ceying.
Zhao Ceying knew that the teacher was guiding him to think, so he thought about it seriously. After a while, he had his own answer.
"The Queen Mother and Your Majesty are not biological mother and son. Due to various reasons, there were many misunderstandings between the Queen Mother and Your Majesty. Therefore, the Queen Mother has concerns and is unwilling to hand over power."
"Your Highness is right, but this is only one of them. There is another reason besides."
Wei Chen first smiled and nodded, and then continued to add: "The Queen Mother has been listening to politics behind the curtain for some time. Now that the affairs of the court are suddenly under the control of Your Majesty, the Queen Mother may not be used to it, and she feels empty and at a loss what to do, so
…”
"That's why the Queen Mother refuses to leave. This is human nature. Why didn't I think of it?"
After listening to Wei Chen's detailed analysis, Zhao Ceying finally became enlightened, figured out the ambivalence of the Queen Mother at this time, and understood the crux of the problem.
In order for the Queen Mother to hand over the jade seal, or even remove the curtain and return to power, not only should the Queen Mother dispel her doubts about her father and son's filial piety, but also the Queen Mother should not be idle and have something to rely on after delegating power.
Fortunately for the first one, Zhao Ceying has already thought of a solution.
Although there was a quarrel between the Empress Dowager Cao and Zhao Zongquan's mother and son, there was no estrangement between the Empress Dowager Cao and Zhao Ceying's grandparents, and Zhao Ceying could still talk to the Empress Dowager Cao.
After Wei Chen's persuasion, Zhao Ceying had already made up her mind to be a filial son and grandson, and now she could fulfill her filial piety to her grandmother for her father, Zhao Zongquan, and bridge the gap between the two.
Zhao Ceying also thought about how to do it specifically.
Starting from tomorrow, he will go to the Queen Mother's palace every day. In addition to taking care of herself in the morning and evening, he will also take good care of the Queen Mother's diet and daily life, and pick up more interesting anecdotes from Bianjing to talk to the Queen Mother. In addition, he will let his wife take care of his son more often.
Visit your great-grandmother...
No matter how noble the Queen Mother's status is, she is still a lonely old man who has lived in the palace for a long time. Zhao Ceying believes that as long as she is filial to her grandmother, she will put aside her prejudices and accept herself.
But this only solves the first problem.
As for the second question, how can we give the Queen Mother something to do after she withdraws the curtain and returns to power without affecting her father Zhao Zongquan's pro-government. Zhao Ceying thought for a long time but could not come up with a good way to get the best of both worlds.
If this problem is not resolved, even if the Queen Mother dispels her doubts about Zhao Ceying and his son, I am afraid she will still not easily delegate power.
Zhao Ceying had no choice but to turn to her teacher Wei Chen for help: "Teacher, how should we solve this matter?"
Wei Chen had already made a plan in his mind. When he heard Zhao Ceying ask this question, he slowly uttered two words.
"charitable."
“What is charity?”
Zhao Ceying was a little confused.
Wei Chen explained with a smile: "It is said in "Zhou Li? Local Officials" that there are six ways to support the people, the first is Salesian care, the second is caring for the elderly, the third is helping the poor, the fourth is caring for the poor, the fifth is tolerating the sick, and the sixth is caring for the sick.
It's called Anfu.
Nowadays, there are Futian Yuan to adopt orphans and the elderly, Juzicang to adopt abandoned babies, Anjiyuan to take in the sick, and Luzeyuan to bury the poor dead in various parts of the Zhou Dynasty. This is charity.
Unfortunately, due to various reasons, the good governance of these courts was often just a formality and existed in name only.
If it can be left to the Queen Mother to manage, it will not only give the Queen Mother something to rely on after she withdraws from the curtain and returns to power, but also can benefit the people, which is a great good."
Zhao Ceying was in awe when he heard Wei Chen's proposal, but after careful consideration, he hesitated.
"What the teacher said is certainly true, but this charity thing costs a lot of money. Where should the money and food come from?"
Zhao Ceying also knew something about the good governance of the court mentioned by Wei Chen. These policies had been in place for a long time, and the main reason why they were abandoned was the lack of money and food.
The financial planning of the imperial court is really difficult!
The millions of troops they maintain alone account for 80% of the imperial court's annual fiscal revenue. In terms of combat effectiveness, these millions of troops are probably not as good as the 100,000 forbidden troops under Taizu's command at the founding of the country.
Redundant troops, redundant officials, and redundant expenses are all old problems that have plagued the Zhou Dynasty for many years. Even if Zhao Ceying wanted to change, he was powerless for the time being.
Despite the grand grandson's 100-day banquet, Zhao Zongquan actually supported it for the sake of royal dignity, and also used a lot of his savings when he was in Yuzhou.
Zhao Ceying heard Empress Shen say that in order to save money, Zhao Zongquan was not even willing to replace the worn out cushions. He was even more thrifty than the late emperor. It can be imagined how embarrassed the treasury was.
Letting the Queen Mother take charge of charity is of course a good thing that everyone is happy with. It can not only ease the relationship between the Queen Mother and Zhao Zongquan, but also benefit the country and the country. However, I am afraid that the court cannot come up with such a sum of money.
You can't increase the taxes on the people just for the sake of charity. Then this kind of charity is neither charitable nor kind at all. Not to mention the objection from the court, even the Queen Mother will not agree.
"If it doesn't work, I can only subsidize it myself." Zhao Ceying gritted his teeth and said, he could only think of this method for a while.
When he was helping Wei Chen in the Jun porcelain trade in Yuzhou, Zhao Ceying had saved some extravagant wealth, and it was inevitable that he would bleed a lot this time.
But Zhao Ceying thinks it's worth it.
Seeing Zhao Ceying's face full of pain, Wei Chen couldn't help but feel a little funny, and said quickly: "Your Highness, you don't have to be like this. I have a plan that may be able to solve your problems for Your Highness."