About Prince Jing (this part was too good to paraphrase):
“I realize that many readers have misunderstood Prince Jing. He is not stupid, and he is not simple/naive, he holds firm to his honesty and standards, not because he doesn’t know or understand some things, but, on the contrary, he is very clear about the darkness in the palace, and he knows what scheming is, he is just not willing to become one of the players, and since he knows this and sees the shame and disgrace in this, he therefore holds fast to his bottom line, and listens and adapts accordingly to xiao Mei’s suggestions. If he persists only because he does not understand, because he is simple/naive, then he would not be worth xiao Mei’s treasuring. As for some people who think this type of person will fall easily to the schemes and plots of enemy countries, I find this strange, because aside from his upright honesty, when has Prince Jing ever seemed more easy to fool compared to others? He is not just a pretty boy (LOL), and hating plots and schemes does not equal lack of intelligence, he always understands immediately when xiao Mei is communicating with him, and always completes well any task he is given, and up until now we have not seen him being fooled by anyone (don’t say he was fooled by xiao Mei, it is in his interest to gain benefit from xiao Mei, and besides, he is very clear that xiao Mei is definitely hiding a secret from him, it is only that he does not wish to investigate at this stage, so if you want to talk about being fooled, it is the other two princes who have been fooled, by the true definition of the word), but why does everyone think he is more stupid than the Crown Prince and Prince Yu? I am really very depressed….”
The rest is paraphrased:
She says that from her point of view, the most important attribute of a successful ruler is not being able to scheme or being clever, because a court should not be filled with dim plots and strategies, but the most important is knowing your people and knowing how best to put each to good use, and valuing the people of the nation, and being fair in bestowing rewards and punishments. And this is the message she is trying very hard to get across in this book.
ЕЩЁнемного подробней про Цзина за государственной работой (при некоторой поддержке Мэй Чансу):
Prince Jing was already good friends with Shen Zhui, a civil official at the Ministry of Revenue, and the two cooperated tacitly, feeling unrestrained when communicating with one another. Since both were extremely principled and self-disciplined, they quickly took control of the situation by executing or discharging some officials who were continuously acting in accordance with past practices. Although you could not say that they handled the situation perfectly from start to end, compared to past years where only thirty percent of the silver sent for disaster aid was distributed to the citizens, it was like night and day. Shen Zhui was a hard worker who preferred firsthand opportunities and thus couldn’t stand to sit around in the capital city. He requested to be sent to the disaster-stricken areas to ensure that there were no riots, minimal deaths, and a safe winter, so that when spring came around, there would be successful farming. Prince Jing exchanged letters with him on a daily basis, and spent much of his time searching for other possibilities for the people to restore their livelihoods as soon as possible. Although Prince Jing was not as knowledgeable in this respect, Mei Changsu had been in the Jianghu for more than ten years, and had great expertise regarding the living conditions of the citizens since many of his subordinates had once struggled as lower-class citizens. He gave some suggestions to Prince Jing to discuss with Shen Zhui, who after his on-site investigations, agreed with much of Prince Jing’s proposals, and only added a few thoughts before reporting back to the Emperor.
In previous years, the occurrence of major disasters was prone to leading to riots, because the citizens were in need of food and clothing, and also because they had nothing else to do–the disasters caused them to be unable to prepare for spring plowing. Because of this, they were in such despair that even the slightest stimuli could lead to extreme chaos, becoming extremely problematic for the royal court and government every year. The memorial to the throne* written by Prince Jing and Shen Zhui needed to provide a solution to this specific issue, and covered many other articles as well. The main purpose was to allow the victims of the disasters to recover, and based on the situation in each province, provide support and arrange for the citizens to take up other work in the meantime. For example, Wei Province is near a waterfront and rich in narrow-leaf cattails, which can be woven into aprons, tea strainers, straw mats, and other goods. After being shipped into the capital city, it became extremely popular, just as goods from other province’s newly discovered, supplemental industries were too. At the same time, while the weather was still warm for another month, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce coordinated new construction of roads and bridges, dredging of rivers, and reclamation of mines which allowed victims who did not master craftsmanship to have a basic income. In some of the warmer provinces where there was no snow, once construction began, they could continue working until spring. Seeds for spring plowing would be allocated by the government to each disaster-stricken area, and farmers who did not have any seeds could collect some. They were exempt from all taxes for the year, and if the following year turned out to be a plentiful harvest, the costs for the grain seeds would be added to the taxes, without any additional fees. With all of this, victims benefitted much more than they had in previous years, while the court spent less money as well. The majority of citizens had jobs, and although not all were completely self-sufficient, it was better than living on the streets, starving, begging for food, or hopelessly waiting for the government to take action. It was evident that if the government officials had a flexible mindset and could come up with suitable solutions, the suffering from any disaster could be greatly alleviated.
The implementation of the memorial, after being approved by the Emperor, yielded great results. Not only did it eliminate the chaos that normally accompanies disasters, but the state treasury also did not suffer any major losses, and it rectified the behavior of local officials by setting precedents as well. Prince Jing established an image of being able to lead troops on the battlefield and manage state affairs off the battlefield. Shen Zhui became increasingly well known and held more prestige in the courts too. Though Prince Yu tried to find fault with them multiple times, he was unable to succeed.
гугл конечно перевел, но клево было б если б кто из знающих язык перевел.