The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 196 Everything starts with the unveiling of the Emperor’s List

Xu Da himself knew very well how his daughter became the quasi-grandmother.

So I specially held a banquet at home to thank Chen Jingke.

Mrs. Sun prepared a large table of food.

The last time Chen Jingke gave her a floor-length mirror, there were only four of them in the entire Ming Dynasty.

But it made her earn enough face.

The key is not the mirror itself, but that Chen Jingke can think of her and show his respect for her.

This is what makes her happiest.

After arranging everything and telling them not to be greedy, they left happily.

There were only three people at the banquet, Xu Da, Chen Jingke and Xu Yungong. The others were kept far away and were not allowed to come near.

Xu Da poured the wine himself: "Jing Ke, let me toast you."

Chen Jingke did not refuse and accepted the glass of wine.

But he immediately responded with a toast to show respect.

After three glasses of courtesy wine, Xu Da said: "I toast you not only because of the Miaojin incident, but also because of Yun Gong."

Chen Jingke was a little confused: "What's wrong, brother?"

His name for Xu Yungong highlights a change.

In front of outsiders, call them by their first name or official title. When the brothers get along in private, they call me Boss Xu.

In front of Xu Da and other elders, he calls him Big Brother.

Xu Da put down his wine glass and sighed: "Do you think I don't want him to get married as soon as possible? I can't."

"In a family like ours, it's not possible for us to have the final say in our marriage."

"If the superior doesn't say anything, he can't get married."

Chen Jingke immediately understood that the higher the status in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, the more out of his control the marriage of his children would be.

Especially the eldest son and daughter were basically married by Zhu Yuanzhang.

When other children get married, they must greet Zhu Yuanzhang in advance and only after he nods does it happen.

As the eldest son of Wei Guogong, Xu Yungong did not have this freedom.

And it can't be said that it's the emperor's problem. I can only make excuses by myself, saying that I don't want to get married too early.

"But why does Your Majesty keep delaying it? My eldest brother has already been crowned."

Xu Da regretted a little: "It's my fault too. A few years ago, His Majesty wanted him to be Princess Runing."

"I was afraid that he would get married too early and become obsessed with men and women and ruin his career, so I declined."

"As a result, three princesses of the right age came out of the cabinet in succession in those two years, and the rest were all too young..."

Three years have passed since the seventh princess came out of the palace in the fifteenth year of Hongwu to the time when she got married in Fuqing this year.

Thinking of this, Chen Jingke suddenly reacted.

Good guy, if it weren't for him, Fuqing would marry Xu Yungong.

This made the brothers smile.

No, without him, Xu Da would have been dead last year.

Xu Yungong must observe mourning for three years...

So in the end he still had to miss Fuqing.

Moreover, as Xu Da died of illness and Xu Yungong was too young and had not yet established a firm foothold in the army, the status of the Xu family was greatly reduced.

Zhu Yuanzhang no longer had the idea of ​​​​strengthening the marriage.

Of course, this does not mean that he does not value the Xu family. He has always trained Xu Yungong as Zhu Yunwen's assistant.

In this life, Xu Da is not dead, and Xu Yungong's marriage is still out of his control.

But now the situation has changed again. Xu Miaojin has entered the palace as the grandson concubine, so there is no need to use a princess to strengthen the marriage.

He can get married at any time.

Just report it to Lao Zhu in advance.

That's why Xu Dacai said that Chen Jingke's recommendation of Xu Miaojin to enter the palace was equivalent to rescuing Xu Yungong.

Chen Jingke was a bit confused when he wanted to understand the twists and turns:

"It's not easy to be a noble person."

Xu Da smiled and shook his head and said: "What you said sounds a bit unworthy of beating. Isn't it just for these things that we work hard all our lives to achieve something?"

Chen Jingke thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case.

This is really a treatment that no one else can get even if they want it. Except for those top nobles, Lao Zhu doesn't bother to care about other people's affairs.

"Seeing that you are always like this, are you planning to arrange your eldest brother's marriage this year?"

"We must do it. I'm still waiting to have my grandson."

"Have you got a goal?"

"That's not all. I, Xu Da's son, cannot marry any other girl."

"Haha, I would like to congratulate uncle first. I will definitely have a grandson next year."

The more they chatted, the happier they became.

As a man, it is natural to be involved in politics, and the topic unknowingly came to the topic of opening up the sea.

Xu Da asked: "Will the focus of Ming Dynasty in the future be the ocean?"

Chen Jingke shook his head and said: "The Ming Dynasty must pay equal attention to the sea and the land, but Beihai is still in the hands of the Beiyuan people. It must be taken back."

"There are also the Western Regions, Anxi, Annan... there are many wars."

"It's just that the ocean is a blank area, and there are more opportunities to make meritorious deeds."

Xu Da immediately gave up the idea of ​​asking Xu Yungong to go to the Navy Yamen, at least there was no need for it now.

"Is this why you encouraged His Majesty to restart the military meritocracy?"

Chen Jingke smiled and said, "Do you really think that if His Majesty doesn't want to, someone can persuade him?"

Xu Da naturally knew how stubborn Zhu Yuanzhang was.

That's why he was more curious about what method Chen Jingke used to make Zhu Yuanzhang change his conservative thinking.

After all, the fifteen unconquered countries were only written into the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions" a few years ago.

Chen Jingke paused for a moment and said, "Profits, His Majesty is a pragmatic king. Only interests can make him tempted."

"I made him see the benefits, and I made him see the dangers in the future."

As for what the benefits were and where the dangers came from, he did not say.

Xu Da did not ask further questions.

It is better not to inquire about many things without Zhu Yuanzhang's permission.

"Yes, your Majesty is indeed a pragmatic king, and he does not want to live up to his reputation."

"Tell me the truth, is there anyone in charge of Hai Tong?"

Chen Jingke smiled and said: "Why not? It should be easy to find out how profitable sea trade was during the Song and Yuan Dynasties."

"You have already obtained the news first. If you miss this opportunity, I will laugh at you."

Xu Da heard the voice-over and said, "Aren't you going to do it?"

Chen Jingke said confidently: "Do you think I need to worry about this?"

Xu Da thought so, but still advised: "Everyone has done it, wouldn't it be bad if you didn't do it?"

Chen Jingke didn't explain too much, but said: "I have my own plan, and you will know it in the future."

As expected, Xu Da stopped asking any more questions. He really had nothing to teach him in this regard. On the contrary, he needed Chen Jingke to give him guidance.

Chen Jingke continued: "The imperial court will definitely form a fleet to go to sea, firstly to declare the status of the Ming Dynasty, secondly to explore the way, and thirdly to do some business."

"You can buy a few big ships and go to sea with the imperial fleet. Your safety will be guaranteed then."

Xu Da said: "That's what I meant."

The banquet lasted until midnight, and Chen Jingke rested in Xu Mansion that night.

At a morning court meeting a few days later, Zhu Yuanzhang once again made changes to the administrative system.

Judiciary is independent. From now on, it will be under the jurisdiction of Dali Temple.

Officials no longer accept the jurisdiction of the prefect, but are under the direct control of the inspector.

There are judicial judges at the county level who are at the same level as the county magistrate and are under the direct control of the judge.

The classics and history that were originally under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate were assigned to the judicial magistrate as an assistant officer.

Dali Temple has a four-level judicial system from the central to the local level, including the inspectors, judges, and judges.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang gave the local administrative officials the power of supervision, but they could only supervise and were not qualified to govern.

Everyone knows that this is to appease the local administrative chief whose interests have been harmed.

In fact, this supervisory power is of no use, and it may be canceled at some point.

Faced with this sudden change, the ministers subconsciously wanted to object.

After all, no one wants to lose their interests.

However, two departments expressed support, Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment.

With judicial independence, the status of Dali Temple will be further enhanced.

Not to mention the Department of Punishment, which is the last among the six films.

After the judiciary becomes independent, their power will also increase.

But overall, opposition voices still prevail.

But with the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang directly enforced this decree not once or twice.

And we are not afraid that the officials below will not cooperate.

The Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple and Tuiguan will actively promote this reform.

There is another group that is also very concerned about this matter.

They are junior officials who are waiting for promotion but there are no vacancies.

Now that there are more than a thousand judicial vacancies, they will naturally have the opportunity to be promoted.

Among them, classics and history are the most enthusiastic, and many judges are directly selected from among them.

Even if he is not selected, going from the fourth in command of the yamen to the second in command of the court is still an improvement.

When it comes to their own interests, these people are naturally very active.

As a result, judicial independence was implemented at an extremely fast pace despite the extreme reluctance of some officials.

Time unknowingly entered August, and a memorial from the Chief Envoy of Shandong broke the peace in the court.

There has been no water in Shandong for four months, causing a severe drought throughout the country.

All of the court's attention was immediately attracted.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not deal with the drought immediately. Instead, he sent someone to check all the memorials in Henan.

No memorial was found about the disaster.

So he issued an order to the Chief Envoy of Henan to inquire about the local situation, and at the same time sent Jin Yiwei to investigate.

Chen Jingke was a little confused at first. What does the drought in Shandong have to do with Henan?

But I soon realized that Shandong and Henan can actually be regarded as one entity geographically.

It is impossible that there will be a severe drought in Shandong and that there will be no problems in Henan.

At least those counties adjacent to Shandong are somewhat abnormal, right?

There is nothing happening in Henan now. Either someone intercepted the disaster report, or the local officials concealed the report regardless of the public sentiment.

Of course, this is just the case.

That's why Zhu Yuanzhang did not deal with it directly, but sent people to investigate.

After figuring this out, Chen Jingke had to admire Lao Zhu's IQ, and then said to Zhu Xiongying:

"It would be great if you had His Majesty's ability to deal with things."

Zhu Xiongying said angrily: "It sounds like you are very powerful. You are so many years older than me. Didn't you just realize it?"

Chen Jingke said confidently: "I am a minister, so what if I react slowly? The worst I can do is live as a petty official."

"You are the Crown Prince. It will be miserable if you are slow to react."

Zhu Xiongying said contemptuously: "You are becoming more and more shameless now. You are so stupid. What use do I have for you?"

After joking, Zhu Xiongying asked doubtfully: "Such a big disaster happened in Shandong, do you still have the heart to joke?"

Chen Jingke said: "If it were before the Yellow River changed its course, I would definitely be worried. Now, I think it's a good time."

Zhu Xiongying immediately understood what he meant and said: "It makes sense. Many people still think that changing the course of the Yellow River will waste people and money."

"I believe we can shut their mouths this time."

Chen Jingke shook his head and said: "It can't be stopped. The hardest thing for people is to admit their mistakes."

"I think it's good because the drought can strengthen the confidence of those who support the court and improve the people's trust in the court."

"For the court, this is the most important thing."

It's not that he is really not worried about the drought in Shandong, but this drought will not cause too serious consequences.

First, the Yellow River has changed its course. Shandong has had a bumper harvest this summer, and people have some surplus food at home.

Secondly, the drought has little impact on the cultivated land along the Yellow River, so part of the harvest can be guaranteed.

When there is enough food locally, relief can be provided nearby to reduce the harm caused by disasters.

Then the imperial court can transfer some food to areas that have never been affected by disasters to help the people tide over the difficulties.

In fact, it was exactly what he thought.

Shortly thereafter, the Shandong Chief Envoy sent another memorial.

Detailed statistics on grain storage and disaster damage in Shandong.

Due to the bumper summer harvest and sufficient grain reserves for the time being, grain prices did not rise too much.

The fertile fields along the Yellow River have not been affected, ensuring that the entire territory will not be harvested.

And in order to cope with the disaster, they are mobilizing the affected people to dig ditches to divert the Yellow River water to farther places and irrigate more land.

Minimize losses as much as possible.

This move can be said to be a model for disaster relief and work-for-relief.

Zhu Yuanzhang commended Shandong officials and exempted Shandong from taxes for one year.

To be on the safe side, a large amount of grain was transported through the Grand Canal.

The role of the Yellow River in this drought also verifies the correctness of the diversion.

It caused many people with different opinions to completely shut their mouths.

But there are also disharmonies. Several counties adjacent to Henan and Shandong have indeed been affected by the drought.

Some counties choose to conceal their reports for the sake of their own political achievements.

Some counties reported it, but the people above chose to withhold it for the sake of political performance.

In the end, those who disregarded the life and death of the people for the sake of political achievements all ended up peeling day lilies.

Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that anyone who fails to report any disasters will be dealt with accordingly.

The disaster in Shandong was solved in this way, and the officials were in a daze for a while.

It seems that the imperial court transported some grain to cover the cost, and Shandong locals did the rest themselves.

Isn't this too easy?

Then all the ministers could do was shout, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang himself was a little unbelievable. A disaster affecting a whole province could be solved so easily?

Why is this?

If you think about it carefully, the answer is very simple. It all started with the unveiling of the emperor's list three years ago.

Chen Jingke was indeed far-sighted, and almost all the changes he made played a role in this disaster.

Facts made Zhu Yuanzhang trust him even more.

So after dealing with the drought in Shandong, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the construction of the Sage Temple.

Its status is above the two civil and military temples, and is equivalent to the Temple of Heaven and the Ancestral Temple.

The Yellow Emperor was given the title of the founder of humanities, Lao Tzu was given the title of the Most Holy Master, and Confucius was given the title of the Master of Eternity.

This order caused an uproar all over the world.

(End of this chapter)