Chapter 1445 - 1353: She Is Very Happy

Zhao Hanzhang looked at Fu Tinghan in surprise, then immediately turned her head to look at the happy Little Douding behind her, and couldn’t help smiling. "Good idea."

Zhao Renjia stopped, lifted her little head to look at her mother, then at her father, and shouted loudly, "Good afternoon, Father!"

Fu Tinghan said, "It’s almost evening now and you’re saying good afternoon? At noon I passed right by you and you didn’t greet me."

Zhao Renjia looked completely confused. "I didn’t see you."

"Exactly, you were in the flowerbed digging up ants. Are ants fun?"

Zhao Renjia lowered her head and said, "Not fun. They wrapped my hands and feet with cloth strips. It was so hot."

Fu Tinghan said, "Ant bites can kill people. No one knows whether the ants you run into next time will be poisonous or not."

Feeling even more that she should study, Fu Tinghan said to Zhao Hanzhang, "She’s too full of energy. You think it’s too early for her to practice martial arts, then let her study. Three years old isn’t that young."

Before Zhao Renjia was even one year old, Mrs. Wang liked to hold a book and read to her—The Book of Songs, The Thousand Character Classic, The Analects—whatever books Mrs. Wang liked, she read them all to her once.

Mingming fell asleep listening to these books; after she learned to talk, she followed along reciting The Thousand Character Classic and The Book of Songs. Whether she recognized the characters was another matter, but she could recite the texts in full.

When she got a bit older, her toys were all kinds of character-recognition cards. In the end, the cards Fu Tinghan made couldn’t keep up with her learning speed, so he simply held the book for her to recognize characters directly.

So now she’s three years old and has never held a writing brush, yet she already recognizes quite a few characters, not to mention she has memorized many poems and essays.

Previously, considering her physical and mental health, Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan had been afraid that if she started school too early, she might develop an aversion to learning. But seeing her now, so happy, they realized that having a bit of pressure in life is actually good.

Zhao Hanzhang lowered her head to look at her daughter, then nodded. "Let her start school."

The next day, when Zhao Hanzhang went to court, she began to look for teachers for Zhao Renjia.

All the officials knew that Zhao Renjia was very likely to become the Crown Princess, so they all wanted to be her teacher. Even if they couldn’t become the Crown Prince’s Tutor, being a lecturer would be pretty good.

Zhao Hanzhang was deeply aware that people with good learning are not necessarily good teachers. And to be Zhao Renjia’s teacher, besides having solid knowledge and being good at teaching, one must also have good character, little selfishness, much public spirit, and even understand both the kingly way and the hegemonic way.

So after much selection, Zhao Hanzhang chose Zhao Cheng, He Xun, and Ming Yu to be her enlightenment teachers.

Zhao Hanzhang said to Fu Tinghan, "When she’s a bit older, I’ll have Zu Ti teach her military strategy, Beigong Chun teach her martial arts, Ji Yuan teach her arithmetic, Zhao Ming lecture her on The Doctrine of the Mean, and Guo Pu teach her The Book of Changes."

When Zhao Ming reached thirty, he finally decided to specialize in The Doctrine of the Mean. Zhao Hanzhang had talked with him several times and had to admit that he had quite some insight in this discipline, so she decided to let Zhao Renjia study it directly.

As for Zhao Cheng, he has always favored Laozi and Zhuangzi; He Xun belongs to the Confucian Sect; and Ming Yu is a proponent of the kingly way.

It’s just that Ming Yu’s kingly way was somewhat distorted. On the first day of class, when he saw three-year-old Zhao Renjia, he said, "Eldest Prince, you are heaven’s favored daughter. Among children your age you can be king, but can you also be king among children older than you?"

Mingming said, "When I master my mother’s martial arts, they’ll submit to me."

Ming Yu asked, "And what if they still refuse to submit?"

Mingming said, "Then I’ll beat them into submission."

"Using force is the last of last resorts, and Eldest Prince, you are just one person—two fists are no match for four legs. There are so many children in this world older than you. How can you make them truly submit to you in their hearts?"

Zhao Mingming pondered and did not answer Ming Yu at the time. That evening at dinner, her gaze couldn’t help sliding over her parents’ faces and finally settled on Fu Tinghan. "Father, can you lend me Uncle Shi?"

Fu Tinghan asked, "What do you want him to do?"

Zhao Mingming said, "I have some small matters I want him to handle for me."

Shi Hongtu was Fu Tinghan’s Guard Commander. Perhaps because he followed Fu Tinghan, he learned carpentry and was quite good at it, having carved many fun things for Zhao Mingming.

Fu Tinghan thought she wanted him to carve something. Considering that tomorrow would be a grand court session and the projects reported by the Observing Things Department were going to be approved, he estimated he’d have to stay in the Imperial Palace all day.

And the Imperial Palace was the safest place; Shi Hongtu would basically have nothing to do. So Fu Tinghan nodded. "All right, I’ll lend him to you. But you’re not allowed to bully him."

Zhao Mingming patted her little chest and promised she wouldn’t bully him.

The next day, she took Shi Hongtu and her own guard squad to stand at the gate of the school, waved her little hand, and ordered, "Bring all the children older than me here and make them acknowledge me as their leader!"

Shi Hongtu and the guards: ... All children nationwide start school at seven. In this school, every single student is older than she is.

Shi Hongtu and the guards looked at each other, not moving.

Zhao Mingming grew unhappy and scolded in her milky voice, "What are you dazing off for? Hurry up and go!"

In the end Shi Hongtu and the guards carried Zhao Mingming back to the Imperial Palace. "Eldest Prince, the school has its own rules. If we disrupt the school’s rules, Your Majesty will surely punish us severely."

Zhao Renjia couldn’t resist and was carried back to the Imperial Palace, shouting "ya ya" all the way.

Having just finished the court session, Zhao Hanzhang quickly learned of it. She was speechless for a long while, then took a moment before the small court meeting to see her daughter, and asked curiously, "Why did you want to go to the school and make them acknowledge you as leader?"

Zhao Mingming said, "Mr. Ming told me to go. He asked me what ways I had to make the older kids at the school acknowledge me as king."

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "And this was your way?"

Zhao Mingming said in disappointment, "But Uncle Shi and the others didn’t obey my orders. I knew Uncle Zeng wouldn’t obey me, but I didn’t expect Uncle Shi not to obey either."

Zhao Hanzhang said, "Do you know why they didn’t obey you?"

Zhao Mingming said, "Because I’m still too little."

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head. "Because you don’t have the prestige that makes them submit."

"How do I get prestige?"

Zhao Hanzhang said, "By doing things that can establish your authority."

Zhao Mingming’s eyes sparkled. "Mother, please be more specific."

"The most basic way to establish authority is to do your own proper duties well."

Zhao Mingming asked, "What are my proper duties?"

"Eat well, exercise well, sleep well, study well, and heed your teachers’ advice well."

Zhao Mingming asked anxiously, "How long will that take?"

"That depends on how well you do. The very first thing is to curb impatience and arrogance. Today Mother will teach you an idiom: ’Desiring speed leads to failure.’"

Only after she finished teaching her daughter and sent her off to play did she go to the small court meeting. All the important ministers were there; they needed to focus on discussing some state affairs.

Before they began, Zhao Hanzhang deliberately brought up this matter to share with everyone. Her gaze swept over Ming Yu and the ministers, and she said meaningfully, "Desiring speed leads to failure. These words are not only for Eldest Prince, but also for all of you."

The ministers’ hearts tightened; they bowed their heads in acknowledgment. The hawkish faction, who had been proposing that they take the opportunity to seize the entire Western Regions in one stroke and even conquer Wusun, fell silent.

Ming Yu was not among the hawks, yet he couldn’t help wiping the sweat from his forehead, suddenly realizing that he had been trying to pull up the seedlings to make them grow when it came to Eldest Prince.

Even Fu Tinghan reflected on himself. "Could it be bad to have her learning so many things at this stage?"

Zhao Hanzhang said, "Let’s ask her?" She herself wasn’t sure; it was her first time being a mother, and she had no experience.

So the couple went to ask Mingming.

Zhao Mingming didn’t feel anything was wrong. She was very happy, and starting school made her even happier. "Before, if I wanted playmates, I had to go out to look for them or have the uncles invite them. Now I don’t have to. Every day, the moment I open my eyes, I can see my little partners. I’m younger than they are, but I’m better than all of them."

Zhao Mingming even suggested, "Mother, I want to go study at the school and compete with more people. I think none of them can beat me."