Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Jie Jin took a breath, sat down, and drank a cup of tea to calm down.

Yang Shiqi and others were a little surprised when they saw his dusty and flustered look.

Xie Jin is usually like a proud cock, holding his head high and chest out when no one is around. Why is he in such a mess now?

"What's wrong with Shidu Jie?"

Zhu Gaochi asked quickly.

Jie Jin looked up at the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi, with a look of anxiety in his eyes.

Jie Jin took a deep breath and said slowly: "I followed Ma He and Zheng He into the imperial prison today. The two of us pretended to be jailers and guarded the door of the guard room. I thought Jiang Xinghuo had definitely not taught those illiterate people anything in the short term. How to read, who knows?"

Jie Jin took a breath and went to pick up the teapot again, but was directly restrained by Yang Rong.

"You are still in the mood to drink tea at this time, so you should continue talking!"

Yang Rong urged eagerly.

Zhu Gaochi also stared at Xie Jin with great concern. Obviously this matter was very important to him and to the position of crown prince he had always wanted.

Jie Jin sighed, put the teapot on the table, and continued: "Who knew that Jiang Xinghuo actually wanted the prisoners to learn the "Chinese Pinyin Dictionary" and recite it in prison. You don't know, that thing is so easy to learn. Anyone who can speak can definitely learn it.”

"After listening to a lesson, we knew that this matter was of great importance. Zheng He and I had no choice but to leave the prison and did not dare to stay any longer. After the two of us came back, Zheng He went to report to Your Majesty on my behalf. I will come to find out His Royal Highness the eldest prince."

The honest and kind-hearted Hu Yan said quickly: "I think it's time to go find your Majesty for your return. Why don't you go to see you first and come to find the eldest prince?"

Jie Jin couldn't laugh or cry: "The imperial city is not locked, but the palace city is locked. How can I get in?"

Only then did Hu Yan react and quickly patted his head, but he had forgotten about it.

The palace door was locked. As a eunuch, Zheng He could naturally enter, but Jie Jin, a foreign minister, wanted to enter the palace in the middle of the night.

Without the emperor's decree from the palace, foreign ministers would not be able to enter the palace after it was locked. The best they could do was to tuck urgent memorials into the cracks of the palace door.

Yang Shiqi also analyzed at this time: "Furthermore, His Majesty must have thought about the ownership of the tax guards and the key point in the dispute between the rival princes, and sent the interpreter to read it. In a sense, it was also to let His Highness the eldest prince know about this matter. the process of."

Everyone nodded, this is the truth.

"Don't talk about the palace door being locked." Yang Rong simply asked Jie Jin on his arm: "Tell me what the "Hanzi Pinyin Dictionary" is? Why do you say that anyone who can speak can learn it?"

"Could it be [anti-cut method]?"

"That's wrong!" Yang Shiqi also frowned: "Even if it is [Fanqie Method], there is absolutely no way to achieve the situation that Jie Shidu said. How can you learn [Fanqie Method] if you don't know the characters?"

What I want to say here is that China has a long history, and smart people have always emerged in an endless stream for thousands of years. It is not that no one has thought about phonetic notation for Chinese characters.

As of the early Ming Dynasty, the phonetic notation of Chinese characters had gone through two stages.

The first stage is the "straight tone method".

The so-called "Zhiyin method" is most representative of "Shuowen Jiezi" written by Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This book is China's earliest and most influential dictionary, and it is China's first systematic analysis of Chinese character glyphs and etymology. The Book of Characters summarizes the achievements of pre-Qin and Han Dynasty literature. The explanation of the meaning of characters generally preserves the most ancient meanings. It is also the standard textbook of the "Zhiyin Method".

The pronunciation of Chinese characters in the "Zhiyin method" often says 'pronunciation Ruo' or 'a certain sound', such as 'cai, caisheng' in "Shuowen Jiezi", which means that the pronunciation of the character 'cai' should be pronounced Become a 'talent'. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the group of classics translators called this method 'yin', which also means the same thing. The "straight-yin method" was used until the Tang Dynasty, and the "Classic Commentary" written by Lu Deming in the Tang Dynasty also had " Shi, the sound is ten'.

Although the "Zhiyin method" is simple and easy to understand, it has the biggest limitation, that is, sometimes there are situations where a certain Chinese character does not have a homophone, such as the word 'DIU', and there is no homophone to use to mark the Zhiyin. .

If you don’t believe me, find one?

What's even more deceptive about the "Zhiyin method" is that sometimes, although the character has a zhiyin, the Chinese characters with the zhiyin are more difficult to understand and read than the characters with the zhiyin. This will cause people to be very speechless, using uncommon characters. Let’s note the phenomenon of commonly used words.

The second stage is [reverse cutting method].

There are different opinions on the origin time of [Fangqie Method], but it definitely cannot escape from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.

Fanqie method is actually easy to understand, it is to use "two characters" to spell "one sound". For example, the word "chang" is pronounced "Chi Liangfan", which means that "Chi" and "Liang" are spelled together to get the pronunciation of the word "Chang". In the Tang Dynasty, the word "anti" was removed and it was called so-and-so Qie, such as "Chang, Chiliangqie".

[Fanqie method] and modern Chinese pinyin are essentially both pinyin. What is the difference?

Modern Chinese Pinyin is a phonetic pinyin that can use three or four letters to mark the pronunciation of a Chinese character. The [Fanqie method] is based on the phonetic principle for pinyin. It is actually a double spelling method, always using two characters to pinyin.

The first character (upper character) in fanqie represents the initial consonant, and the second character (lower character) represents the final vowel and tone. In the pinyin rule system of [Fanqie method], even if there are zero initial consonants, there must be a prefix for fanqie. For example, 'an' is 'wuhanqie'. Similarly, even if there are finals with both rhymes and endings, there must be only You can use a reverse cut to write the word, for example, '香' is 'Xu Liangqie'.

In other words, being able to speak does not mean that you can spell out the sounds under the [Fanqie method] rules. You must meet the following three conditions before you can look up the dictionary through this method.

First of all, you have to recognize the words. At the very least, you have to know the two corresponding words that spell out a certain word. So what if you don’t recognize one of them? Sorry, you can't spell it out.

Secondly, do you think you can spell out the pronunciation once you recognize the characters? It’s impossible, you still have to memorize very complicated rules.

Finally, after recognizing the words and memorizing the rules, there are still many words that you cannot pronounce.

Therefore, although the [Fanqie method] is already the most advanced Chinese phonetic notation method at this time, it is actually quite deceptive.

"How did Jiang Xinghuo pronounce the phonetic notation?"

"Alas..." Jie Jin sighed, "Jiang Xinghuo directly used symbols to annotate the phonetic sounds! He directly skipped the strange circle of 'annotating words with words'!"

When Xie Jin explained in detail what he saw, he explained the principles of Jiang Xinghuo's Chinese pinyin.

When Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong and others heard this, their expressions became solemn.

This matter is getting big!

The reason why literacy could not be promoted in the past is because whether it is the "Zhiyin method" or the "Fanqie method", they are all "annotating characters with characters". This has fallen into the cycle of "chicken lays the egg or the egg lays the egg". How to recognize characters and learn the phonetic notation method of "note characters with characters"? But the problem is, my mother-in-law can already read, so why do I still need to learn to write phonetic notations?

Moreover, the literati of the past dynasties have made this [Fanqie method] phonetic notation system extremely complex. Once it has been learned, it does not mean that it is universal. Some characters cannot be phonetically pronounced, or the pronunciation is wrong when pronounced.

But the pinyin of Chinese character symbols proposed by Jiang Xinghuo perfectly solved this strange circle!

Even if you are illiterate, you don't need to learn other characters to phoneticize other characters. Instead, you only need to learn a dozen or so symbols to phoneticize thousands of Chinese characters in the world!

Moreover, the accuracy of phonetic notation is countless times better than [Fanqie method]!

This also means that Jiang Xinghuo’s Chinese pinyin method is extremely difficult to promote and extremely efficient!

This is really not good news for those supporters of the First Prince's party.

The emperor's attitude was obvious. Whether it was the eldest prince or the second prince, one of them must be the heir apparent.

Zhu Gaochi was good at writing, and Zhu Gaoxu was good at martial arts. The battle for the crown prince was inevitable.

Moreover, the emperor's intention was to control the process of competing for the reserve as well as possible, and absolutely did not allow any major mistakes.

And the second prince Zhu Gaoxu has been in prison for so long. You don't care how he lives in it. It is always right to be in prison without a wide range of personal freedom, right? The emperor would definitely give Zhu Gaoxu some compensation, and the tax soldiers and guards were the compensation promised to Zhu Gaoxu.

The key point whether Zhu Gaoxu can get compensation from the emperor does not lie with Zhu Gaoxu or anyone else, but with Jiang Xinghuo.

The question lies in whether Jiang Xinghuo is really what he said, that is, everyone thinks that he can make illiterate people know 500 common words in Haikou in more than two months.

When the news first came out, naturally no one believed it could be done.

The reason is that no one has been able to perfectly solve the problem of phonetic notation for thousands of years.

This is also the reason why Xie Jin lost his composure today.

Jiang Xinghuo actually solved this historical problem that had been pending for thousands of years!

This kind of shock is probably the same as when a reform-through-labor prisoner in a prison in modern society published the demonstration process of Goldbach's conjecture "1+1".

The difficulty is definitely different, but the effect is basically the same.

Literary people are basically arrogant. If my ancestors couldn't solve this problem, then it won't be a shame if I can't solve it.

But if you solve a problem that my ancestors couldn't solve and that I can't solve, where would I put my face?

Doesn’t this mean people put it on the ground and step on it?

"I'm afraid it will be difficult to stop the tax guard incident."

Yang Shiqi sighed.

Although he and Jie Jin had some problems with each other, now, he hoped that Jiang Xinghuo would not be able to complete the literacy class.

In the final analysis, it is still profit.

Whether it is Xie Jin, Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, or Hu Yan, since they are getting more and more involved with the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi, it means that their temple careers have been bound to him.

The eldest prince Zhu Gaochi failed in his bid for the throne, and their fate would definitely not be any better.

The more severe ones are, of course, clan execution and exile, while the less severe ones are demotion, marginalization and ruining the future.

After all, the clamor for Zhu Gaoxu to be the crown prince was high. Among the ministers who followed Zhu Di to Fengtian, except for the old Gu Cheng and the young Zhang Fu, the other two princes were all in the same party. A few words were written on his face.

Zhu Di had nothing to do about it.

The reason is that when Jing Nan was in trouble, he rebelled with his head in his waistband. He didn't think he had much chance of breaking into Nanjing and becoming emperor. Who would have thought about the problem of establishing a heir in the future?

During the four years of Jingnan, Zhu Gaoxu, the most powerful general in the world, was needed in many places as the vanguard of the army. How could Zhu Di restrict Zhu Gaoxu's interactions with the generals?

Therefore, it has caused the current embarrassing phenomenon.

Jingnan's ministers swarmed in support of the establishment of the second prince Zhu Gaoxu as the crown prince, while most of the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi's old members in the administrative system stayed in the north to clean up the mess in Hebei, Shandong and other places that had been wiped out by Jingnan.

The eldest prince Zhu Gaochi brought only a few people to the center of Nanjing, and then there were the group of old Jianwen ministers who gathered mainly in the cabinet.

Because the civil war ended in less than five months!

Therefore, in Nanjing, the supporters of the second prince Zhu Gaoxu are much more powerful than the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi. They are often Dukes, Marquises, and Counts, while the supporters of the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi are only some lower-ranking civil servants.

That's all. As the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi has been in charge of the country for a long time, he can always slowly develop his own power.

But after Zhu Gaoxu is released from prison in two months, he will have a strong force like the "Tax Guards" in his hands. If the administrative system of the Ming Empire is penetrated by it, some candidates for key positions will fall into Zhu Gaoxu's hands. , the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi will completely lose his power of checking and balancing.

"Oh, this matter is so difficult!"

Jie Jin surprisingly did not disagree with Yang Shiqi, but nodded and agreed with Yang Shiqi's point of view.

Now that we have experienced the "Jiangnan Zhou Jin Conspiracy Case", the government and the opposition are already in turmoil. If the battle for the crown prince resumes, there will definitely be another bloody storm in the future.

Moreover, if Zhu Gaoxu really becomes the prince, after more than ten or twenty years, once Zhu Gaoxu ascends the throne, according to Zhu Gaoxu's violent temper, they will definitely be killed.

Even if Zhu Gaoxu fails to become the crown prince and merely gains the upper hand in the battle for the crown prince, the power controlled by people like Yang Shiqi will inevitably be damaged by then.

Yang Shiqi and others have been reading history books since childhood. Naturally, they know that the fierce competition within the royal family and the cruelty of the fight for the throne are far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

"Your Highness, I have a plan!"

While he was pondering, the honest and honest Hu Yan suddenly stood up and spoke.

Zhu Gaochi looked at him, with a forced smile on his fat face, and asked, "What can Shitao Hu do?"

"I don't have a particularly good solution." Hu Yan said with a wry smile: "I just feel that since there is no solution to this matter, it is better to follow the trend."

Zhu Gaochi asked doubtfully: "You mean to sit back and watch the tax guard be established?"

Hu Yan nodded slightly and said: "To put it bluntly, although the second prince is the second son, his majesty has always felt that he was indebted to him since he was born and died in the fourth year of Jingnan. Therefore, I am afraid that your majesty has long planned to hand over the matter of the tax guards." Him. If we insist on writing a letter to stop it, His Majesty will be furious."

"My opinion is that since we can't stop it, we might as well take the initiative to submit a letter proposing this matter. At the same time, we propose that Zhang Fu be appointed as deputy or de facto chief officer, so as to control the tax guards and guards within a controllable range."

Zhang Fu, this future generation of famous generals, was the only one who fought from the Battle of Jingnan to the Tumu Fort Incident. He was also the only remaining loyal supporter of the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi.

"Nonsense!"

Jie Jin suddenly slapped the table and shouted angrily: "This plan is not possible. Your Highness must not be confused!"

Xie Jin looked distressed and said: "Your Majesty did this to further consolidate the foundation of Ming Dynasty's rule. If the second prince gets this power and does not know how to deal with it, local taxation will be counterproductive. The second prince must not be allowed to command the tax collectors. guard."

Several people were speechless for a while. Jie Jin was good at everything. He was highly educated and experienced. The only problem was his temper. He was really too wild.

What you said is not level.

Everyone knows that tax guards will affect the interests of local gentry. The question is, can't you use a euphemism?

Yang Shiqi frowned and said, "Then what should we do according to Jie Shidu's meaning?"

Jie Jin gritted his teeth and said: "The second prince is already in prison at the moment. We just need to try to get the censor to report again and find some crimes for the second prince... There are many opinions, so this matter will be stopped!"

Zhu Gaochi remained silent.

Yang Shiqi said: "This plan is inappropriate, it is too risky."

Yang Rong smiled and said, "Shidu Jie said it easily."

"Huh?" Xie Jin looked at Yang Rong beside him.

Yang Rong looked at Xie Jin's aggressive gaze, paused, and said with the same serious glance: "If you want to find fault with the second prince, you will definitely find a lot of faults, but do you think His Majesty really cares? According to Your Majesty If you get stubborn, we won't even be able to put Zhang Fu in, so we might as well follow the method Hu Shi said."

Yang Rong's eyes had a certain sharpness, as if they could pierce people's souls.

Jie Jin was speechless.

Zhu Gaochi also knew that he had to make a decision. Everyone was his supporter and making suggestions for him. If he, the person involved, didn't make a decision and just let it go, he would lose people's support.

After all, the time these people spent with him was actually only a few months, not much longer than the time Zhu Gaoxu and Jiang Xinghuo spent together.

Zhu Gaochi added: "Since there is no guarantee, you can't gamble. It's better to be a favor that suits your father's wishes. In this way, your father will feel some gratitude in his heart."

"As for Zhang Fu, he must be able to join the tax guard."

Hu Yan said: "Why is Your Highness so sure that this matter can be accomplished?"

Zhu Gaochi's plump body retracted into the chair, he picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea without saying anything.

But Yang Shiqi just glanced at Hu Yan, and Hu Yan suddenly understood.

Checks and balances are the emperor's instinct.

After several cabinet members left one after another, Zhu Gaochi sat tiredly on the rocking chair in the garden of the mansion, and the wooden rocking chair made an overwhelmed "squeaking" sound.

And a small figure appeared next to Zhu Gaochi.

"Father."

Picking up Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Gaochi looked at his son's big black eyes and asked, "What's wrong? Is there anything you want to tell dad?"

"Mr. Jiang, do you still have a shortage of students?"

Zhu Gaochi was suddenly startled when he asked this question. He thought his son wanted to go to school, but he realized it in an instant.

"you mean?"

Zhu Zhanji put his hands together and whispered into his father's ear: "Second uncle is so majestic now, it's actually all because of Mr. Jiang!"

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi suddenly shivered in the autumn evening wind.