The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 385 The People Above the Elders
Unlike Anxi where the wind was strong and the waves were high, Daming was generally stable with only slight ripples.

Microwaves come from two aspects: one is the implementation of the internal circulation plan, and the other is from the ideological circle.

In order to speed up the construction of the domestic circulation, the court relaxed the review of infrastructure projects.

Just as speculated, when faced with the meat being delivered to their mouths, how many people can control their inner desires?
For a time, corruption was rampant.

The Jinyiwei was fully mobilized, and Zhu Biao sent imperial censors to patrol the country.

The Ministry of Revenue and the Banknote Bureau formed a joint investigation team to conduct random inspections and audit the whereabouts of funds.

Even so, this trend cannot be curbed.

Old Zhu finally couldn't sit still anymore, and after the Lantern Festival, he decided to go out and inspect the local areas again.

He originally wanted to take Empress Ma with him, but was harshly rejected.

"That's enough. I know you have the intention. I'm old and don't want to bother with that anymore. Go by yourself."

Old Zhu was so aggrieved: "Sister, you are impatient with me."

Madam Ma said unhappily, "Do you think everyone has a body as strong as yours? If you keep going on like this, I'm afraid Jing Ke won't be able to help you."

Old Zhu felt so distressed when he heard this. Looking at her hair which was almost completely white, he felt a dull pain in his heart.

She can run and jump, and can even swing a big sword dozens of times, but she already looks very old.

You know, she is two years younger than me.

As he thought about it, his eyes became moist: "Sister, you have to take care of yourself, we can't live without you."

Madam Ma was happy in her heart, but she said with disdain: "Old thing, you are almost buried and you are still being mushy."

Then she comforted him, "I asked Jing Ke, and there is no big problem for now."

"Everyone has breath in their hearts. As long as that breath is there, there won't be any big problems."

"I'm still very confident, so just go and do your thing."

Old Zhu sat down next to her and said, "I won't go either. I'll stay at home with you."

Madam Ma smiled and said, "Why are you accompanying me? The court needs you more."

"Besides, you are concerned about state affairs. If I really let you do nothing in the palace, I am afraid that you will get sick."

"Go ahead, help Biaoer share some of the pressure..."

When talking about his eldest and precious son, Mr. Zhu felt a little helpless.

This son's health is not as good as mine.

He did not dare to relax at all and tried every way to help his son share the pressure, for fear that Zhu Biao would die before him.

Ma Niangniang also realized that she seemed to be comforting the wrong person, so she quickly made amends:

"Jing Ke is here. Are you still not confident in his medical skills?"

Old Zhu nodded, then shook his head and said, "I never doubt his medical skills, but in his own words, human energy is limited."

"He has been busy studying state affairs and studying academic subjects over the years, and his medical skills have long been rusty."

Madam Ma smiled and said, "He may be unfamiliar with treating other diseases, but he has to treat Biao'er and me three times a day. He can't be unfamiliar with it even if he wants to."

"You, just put your heart at ease."

"And the reason I don't go out with you isn't entirely because of my health. I'm afraid you won't be able to move freely with me around."

Empress Ma is not a pushover. She just likes to leave room for maneuver and doesn't like to exaggerate things.

When it really comes to the critical moment, her wrist is no softer than Zhu Yuanzhang's.

Otherwise, they would be among the top three model couples.

In this regard, Zhu Biao's personality is more like that of Empress Ma.

Now is a critical moment for reform. If huge amounts of money are spent without drastic measures, one can imagine what will happen.

So, this time she supported Lao Zhu's murder in principle.

But Empress Ma's character determined that she could not ignore Zhu's massive involvement in the incident and would inevitably try to persuade him.

By then, Lao Zhu won't be able to do things freely.

Once corrupt officials are given the opportunity to take chances, the consequences will be very serious.

Out of sight, out of mind, so she simply decided not to go with him this time.

Madam Ma continued, "The second reason is Miao Jin. She is grown up now, and I need to take care of her in Luoyang."

Old Zhu raised his eyebrows and said, "She is the Crown Princess we trained, who dares to touch her?"

Madam Ma said unhappily, "Who else could it be except your precious grandson?"

Old Zhu understood immediately and said quickly, "That's right. We can't let that brat do anything wrong. We have to wait until Miao Jin reaches the age of 15."

Xu Miaojin is thirteen years old this year, and fifteen years old in appearance. In ancient times, it would be no problem to get married at this age.

Zhu Xiongying treats his wife so well every day. If he lets them be together, who knows what will happen.

Danger must be eliminated.

Besides, this is the future queen, she must be educated well.

Although there is Chen Jingke as a teacher, there are some things that men cannot teach.

Originally, the child's mother was the most suitable.

However, Xu Miaojin's mother could barely read or write, so no one felt safe letting her teach the future queen.

Empress Ma can only teach it herself.

Seeing that his wife was indeed not suitable for going out, Old Zhu gave up the idea and prepared to go to the Qianqing Palace to talk to Zhu Biao about this matter.

Just when he was halfway there, he ran into the eunuch Lu Ying.

He was once a eunuch in the Eastern Palace and Zhu Biao's confidant.

Now that Zhu Biao was the emperor, he naturally became the chief eunuch.

That is commonly known as the eunuch chief of the palace.

Seeing him, Old Zhu frowned and scolded:
"Why are you here if you're not serving the Emperor?"

Lu Ying quickly said, "In reply to the Emperor, His Majesty asked me to invite you to the Cabinet."

Please go to the cabinet yourself? That means something big has happened.

He wondered in his heart what exactly they wanted to discuss with him.

But he said bluntly: "Serve the emperor well. If we find out that you are lazy, you will suffer the consequences."

Lu Ying's heart trembled. Others might say this just to scare or intimidate, but the person in front of him really dared to do it.

"Yes, I will do my best to serve Your Majesty."

Zhu Yuanzhang then turned and went to the cabinet.

After arriving, he found that Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiongying, Chen Jingke and seven cabinet scholars were all there.

After the greetings, everyone took their seats.

When Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, ministers were not qualified to sit down when they met the emperor.

According to the law, when meeting the emperor, one could only answer on one knee.

Of course, this is just a rule of etiquette.

The actual operation is not like this. Generally, people answer the call while standing.

If the person opposite is a senior official, he will also be given a seat.

If it were Xu Da, Tang He and others, they could even sit around a table, eating, drinking and chatting.

After Zhu Biao came to power, some slight adjustments were made.

Except for court meetings where all ministers had to stand, when meeting with a minister alone, he would usually be given a seat.

When the cabinet discussed matters, chairs were placed directly in the meeting room, allowing ministers to sit down and respond.

By the way, many people think that going to the toilet is not allowed during court meetings.

Therefore, before going to court, all officials had to go to the toilet to take care of their hygiene first.

In fact, this is not the case at all.

During the court meeting, ministers were allowed to go to the toilet.

There are officials from the Ministry of Rites in the main hall who are specifically in charge of this matter, and they are probably about the eighth or ninth rank.

Anyone who can’t hold it anymore can go to the toilet by finding the etiquette officer and explaining the situation.

And there must be toilets near the palace where the meeting is held.

Even if you just need to find a house and put a toilet there temporarily, you must have one.

Let's get back to the point. When everyone sat down, a strange situation emerged.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat in the main seat. As the left was the most respected in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao sat to his lower left, and Zhu Xiongying sat to his lower right.

This is normal and nothing to worry about.

The real problem is Chen Jingke's position.

He actually sat below Zhu Biao, while Li Shanchang, who was supposed to sit in this position, sat below Zhu Xiongying opposite him.

The others follow in order.

Officialdom is most particular about rules, and the order of seating is particularly important.

Li Shimin hosted a banquet for all officials, and Yuchi Gong made a scene at the venue because of the seating issue.

Li Daozon went to persuade him and was almost blinded.

Now that Chen Jingke has taken Li Shanchang's position, if outsiders saw this, they would definitely be shocked.

But everyone present felt it was natural.

Even the narrow-minded Li Shanchang did not look unhappy at all.

It is really a great spectacle.

In fact, Chen Jingke was unwilling to sit in this position at first because it was too high-profile.

I am just a tutor to the prince. What qualifications do I have to sit at the head of all officials?
It's against etiquette.

Moreover, where does he stand with Li Shanchang when he sits here?

Even if he was not there, there was still the Second Minister of Cabinet Xu Da and five other cabinet members.

Sitting here would offend them all.

However, in fact, Li Shanchang gave up this position to him on his own initiative.

Xu Da also expressed his support, not to mention Qiu Guangan.

Seeing that everyone above agreed, the other people naturally didn't say anything.

So the seats were arranged in a confused manner.

Chen Jingke naturally knew what everyone was thinking.

Li Shanchang took the initiative to give up his position, not because he had become more magnanimous, but rather it was a manifestation of his lack of magnanimity.

He has a dirty trick on his bottom and can no longer be trusted as before.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao made him the chief minister of the cabinet was just to borrow his prestige.

The reform was led by Chen Jingke, and his task was to implement the resolutions and help the court to deal with the officials.

If he doesn't understand this and really thinks of himself as the Prime Minister, he will probably make a fool of himself.

He had been beaten once before, and had finally restored his relationship with Lao Zhu. He didn't want to do anything stupid again.

And the most urgent task now is to seek a fiefdom for the Li family.

The prime minister and the struggle for power are worthless compared to the fiefdom.

If the closure of the country is a problem, then we will have no place to cry.

Therefore, the best way is to play your role honestly.

Giving up the top spot was a statement to Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao in exchange for their trust.

But if someone else took the top spot, he would definitely not accept it and would not want to see it.

Even if Xu Da sat there, he would have complaints.

I, Li Shanchang, am the greatest meritorious official in the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and you, Xu Da, can only be ranked second.

When we both appear at the same time, you want to be the first?
Think more.

But someone must sit in this position, and he would rather it be Chen Jingke.

First of all, he really admired Chen Jingke's abilities.

Secondly, Chen Jingke helped him several times.

When the incident between him and Hu Weiyong happened, Chen Jingke pleaded for him, and then he and Empress Ma conspired to make Zhu Yuanzhang forgive him.

This comeback was also an opportunity taken advantage of Chen Jingke's reforms.

The key point is that Chen Jingke passed on the concept of "rule of law" to him without reservation.

From this point of view, Chen Jingke can be considered his teacher.

Although Li Shanchang was jealous, as a scholar he still understood the basic principle of respecting teachers.

Both publicly and privately, and emotionally and rationally, he admired Chen Jingke very much.

That's why Li Shanchang took the initiative to give the chair to Chen Jingke.

As for Xu Da, he is now truly a Buddhist.

The eldest daughter, Xu Miaoyun, is the Princess of Yan and the future Queen of Yan.

The youngest daughter, Xu Miaojing, was the designated Crown Princess and the future Empress of the Ming Dynasty.

The eldest son Xu Yungong had a close relationship with Zhu Xiongying and Chen Jingke.

He didn't need to do anything, just help the emperor look after the army.

In the future, the Xu family will be the third most prestigious family in the Ming Dynasty.

As for why it is third, the first must be the Zhu family.

If the royal family was forced to choose between Chen and Xu, there would be no suspense at all; the Xu family would definitely disappear.

So the second place can only be the Chen family.

But Xu Da was also very satisfied. He was in the top three. If he was not satisfied, he would be struck by lightning.

So he has a very peaceful mentality and doesn't need to fight for anything.

Of course he couldn't argue.

Sometimes fighting too much is the beginning of self-destruction.

As a relative of the emperor, you want to take control of the military and political power. What do you want to do?
Chen Jingke understood this principle, so there is no way he wouldn't understand it.

But he and Li Shanchang had similar ideas. I would not sit in this seat, and anyone else who wanted to sit there had to ask for my opinion first.

He naturally supported Chen Jingke sitting down.

The relationship between the two families is really beyond words. Not only are they good now, but they will also be basically tied together in the future.

Chen Jingke’s son is his future granddaughter’s son-in-law.

His daughter is his future granddaughter-in-law.

If there were any extra children, they would definitely be married to Xu Yungong's children.

It can be said that what will happen decades later has already been determined today.

Since he had no way to fight for it, he naturally had to help Chen Jingke.

What, you said Chen Jingke also needs to keep a low profile?
That was in the past. Now he has grown stronger and is no longer afraid of attacks from others.

Besides, everyone in the Ming Dynasty knows that he is the unknown prime minister.

In the past, you asked the ministers who was above them?

Everyone would say it is the crown prince, the emperor, or the emperor emeritus.

Now everyone would say that above the ministers is Chen Bandu, and above Chen Bandu is the royal trio.

Therefore, there is no point in him being low-key anymore.

There is no need to explain why Qiu Guangan supported Chen Jingke.

If he dared not to support it, he would be dismissed from office the next moment for walking with his left foot first.

Then you will be expelled from the mathematics circle for not taking the left foot first when walking.

The remaining four cabinet scholars chose to follow the crowd.

Because no matter how it rotates, they will never get the top spot.

Why should I offend Chen Jingke for this matter?

Thus, Chen Jingke sat on the top seat representing the limit of a minister.
-
After everyone was seated, everyone's eyes turned to Chen Jingke, including Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiongying.

Old Zhu said, "Jingke, why don't you call everyone here? Is there something important?"

Chen Jingke coughed dryly and said, "There are a few important things that need to be decided as soon as possible."

"First of all, the people who went to explore Yanzhou have returned..."

(End of this chapter)