Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 346 Emperor Jianwen's Reforms
Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought.

Zhu Di remained silent.

Wang Buli couldn't help laughing and pointed at the screen:
"Fuck, Lao Si, you are so powerful?"

Zhu Di was trembling with fear.

After all, he is still young and doesn't have much ambition.

Not to mention his father isn't dead yet!

Now, after hearing Wang Buli's encouragement, he calmed down and said hesitantly:

"Yes, really?"

"The new emperor has been in office for a year. Even if the Ming Dynasty doesn't have a million soldiers who can fight, it should have at least 500,000.

You dared to raise an army with only 800 men to purge the emperor's court. You are going to be forced to death by the new emperor. You are ready to give it a try. You are worthy of being you!"

Zhu Di chuckled a few times when he was praised by Wang Buli.

They had said long ago that once they were forced into a desperate situation, even if they knew they would die, they would still risk their lives to take away one or two enemies. In short, they could not do business at a loss.

Accept the investment?

That is absolutely not allowed.

Wang Buli's boasting also reached the ears of Zhu Yuanzhang.

The main reason was that Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Zhu Di had succeeded.

He thought he knew more inside information than his son and son-in-law.

This gave him a slight sense of superiority.

Zhu Yuanzhang had a certain understanding of Zhu Di's military capabilities, but he didn't know what role Wang Buli played during this period.

He always felt that Wang Buli was not the kind of person who would just stand in Nanjing and wait for Zhu Di to enter the city and tell him to go and pay homage to the mausoleum first.

Zhu Yuanzhang guessed that when Wang Buli learned about Zhu Di's plan to purge the court, he began secretly planning how to help him.

"In order to maintain the long-term stability of the Ming Dynasty and fight against the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, I chose the feudal system and asked the princes to assist the royal family.

When I was crowned king, I said that the world is so big that we must build frontier defenses to protect the country and keep the people safe.

Now that my sons have grown up, it is appropriate that they should be given titles and given different positions in different states, in order to ensure long-term peace and stability."

Wang Buli did not express any opinion. Zhu Yuanzhang did this with a very firm idea in his heart.

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head slightly in response to Zhu Yunwen's concerns.

It seems that this boy still lacks a certain level of vision and confidence.

Huang Zicheng, the prince's companion, replied confidently:

"The guards of the kings are enough to defend themselves. If there is a change, who can resist the six armies?"

He also cited the story of Emperor Jing of Han in suppressing the Rebellion of the Seven States to prove that the local princes were nothing to worry about.

"I have to say, Huang Zicheng does have some analytical skills."

Wang Buli praised him in front of Lao Zhu.

After all, without Huang Zicheng, the rising star, who would give Emperor Jianwen advice on how to reduce the power of the princes?
"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought so too.

The central court has so many elite soldiers and generals. Even if the border princes rebel, what are the chances of success?

What's more, the number of soldiers Zhu Yuanzhang assigned to the fourth son was actually not many at all.

South of Yanmen is Taiyuan, the capital city, with mountains and rivers around it, where the State of Jin was established.

Taking advantage of the dangerous terrain of Qielong, the capital of Zhou and Qin, and the wilderness of Mujing, he went straight to Jincheng and established the Qin State with Xi'an as its center.

The guards of the two kings of Qin and Jin could reach over 10,000 people, which was much stronger than Zhu Di's 3,000 men.

So Zhu Yuanzhang was very puzzled, why the fourth brother succeeded!
The second and third brothers failed. Could it be that they died early?

Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne at the age of 21, and Zhu Yuanzhang felt that he was old enough.

At least he was older than several emperors who succeeded him later. He was able to handle state affairs independently and did not need any powerful ministers.

You can come up with many ideas on your own.

The young Jianwen Emperor was bookish and gentle, having inherited his father's mild and thoughtful temperament.

He is shy and has no experience in state affairs.

Not to mention that compared with his previous royal ancestors, or even compared with his uncles who were great talents and strategies, he did not have the self-confidence and strong character, or even the ability.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed.

It seems that since his eldest son died of a sudden illness, he doesn't have much energy to train another heir.

Therefore, this child is guaranteed to inherit the throne safely, but he does not have the ability to be emperor.

The young emperor's docile character and Confucian education made him truly concerned about the impact of his grandfather's high-handed administrative measures on the common people, so he sincerely yearned to implement an ideal benevolent government.

"Fuck."

Zhu Yuanzhang then corrected his eldest son Zhu Biao's wrong perception.

Now his grandson has also been led astray by what these Confucianists say, and is completely unaware of their sinister intentions.

Many Confucian scholars themselves did not believe that they could implement such a benevolent government, but they thought that as long as the emperor did so, the world would continue as the Confucianists envisioned.

Being an emperor requires taming these scholars and using them for your own benefit, rather than being tamed by them and becoming their tool.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought that Zhu Yunwen must have ignored his words and believed that what the scholars said were the truth.

Wang Buli listened to Zhu Yuanzhang's long sigh and understood his disappointment with those Confucian disciples.

These scholars said they were loyal to the emperor, but they did not act in a loyal manner.

Of course, Wang Buli thought it was a pipe dream for Zhu Yuanzhang to want his subordinates to be 100% loyal to him.

Zhu Yuanzhang discovered that his good grandson Zhu Yunwen was completely bewitched by the praises of the Confucianists.

They said that the emperor was both a filial son and a benevolent ruler, calling him a perfect figure who followed the advice of Confucian scholars and eased the harsh administration of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.

motherfucker.

Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the armrest angrily. These damn scholars really wanted to use Emperor Jianwen to oppose the policies we have formulated.

Wang Buli glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and found that it was true.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very dissatisfied with the behavior of the scholars he appointed as officials. This led to the North-South List case before his death, which was used to suppress the southerners who were all over the court. As a result, when he died, the new emperor was surrounded by scholars.

Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng both held many official positions under Zhu Yuanzhang, and Huang Zicheng was the first place in the imperial examination and also the third place in the imperial examination.

Qi Tai was also a top scorer in the imperial examination and was particularly proficient in etiquette and military strategy.

On the deathbed of Emperor Hongwu, he was entrusted with protecting the crown prince and the successor emperor, and was appointed Minister of War by the new emperor to participate in state affairs.

Fang Xiaoru was already a scholar of outstanding reputation in his early forties, famous as a writer and political thinker, but he never passed the imperial examination.

When he was young, he was a scholar; when he was older, he was a representative of Confucianism. It was natural for him to be hired by Emperor Jianwen.

These three Confucian scholars influenced the emperor in various ways.

Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai became the emperor's confidants and educated him with Confucian theories of self-cultivation and peace.

They were responsible for researching and implementing new policies aimed at reorganizing the Ming administration and strengthening the emperor's authority.

Fang Xiaoru was an expert on the Book of Zhou, and he saw the shortcomings of the emperor's autocratic rule, so he suggested that the emperor should implement benevolent policies based on the ideals and forms proposed in the ancient classics.

It has to be said that these three people are full of ideals, but they are all nerds, lacking practical awareness and experience in public affairs, and have no leadership skills.

Their analysis of problems is often limited to theoretical and unrealistic.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, his mouth turned upside down.

I never thought that when I was old, I would choose these people to assist the new emperor.

Could it be that Wang Buli declined?

Even if Zhu Biao died and the new emperor ascended the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Wang Buli must be one of the regents. Why didn't I use this guy?

Or did he also see the future of the Ming Dynasty in the years to come and was determined to support Zhu Di to ascend to the throne?
After all, he had seen some news about Empress Ma's death before, and Zhu Yuanzhang felt that his speculation was correct to a certain extent.

In addition, this kid's inner strength is depleted now, so he may not be able to do much work.

Zhu Di shook his head and said, "Brother-in-law, three scholars who have never fought in a war cannot command so many generals."

Wang Buli knew clearly that Zhu Di did not understand that the elimination of the Huaixi civil service group was only the beginning of the Hu Weiyong case, which had been going on for several years until Lan Yu and others were eliminated.

How many capable generals are left in the Ming Dynasty?
"Well, they are not even as good as Zhao Kuo." Wang Buli added.

After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, he listened to the advice of these Confucian masters and initiated some political and institutional reforms, whose intention was to deviate greatly from the arrangements made by Emperor Taizu Gao.

In the 13th year of Hongwu, Taizu abolished the Secretariat, which led to the abolition of some central administrative organs, which have now been partially restored. The system was revised to strengthen the administrative functions of civil servants and reduce the government's autocratic style.

"Damn it, how dare they!"

Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer hold back and violently pulled out his weak spot.

He finally brought up a major case just to strengthen the emperor's centralized rule.

As a result, when the eldest grandson came to power, he wanted to restore the old system.

Is he going to create a new Ming Dynasty in a while?

Just like in the Song Dynasty, the emperor and the scholar-officials rule the world together?

In order to implement these reforms, Emperor Jianwen promoted Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai and Fang Xiaoru to administrative officials.

After abolishing the Secretariat, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty decided that all state affairs must be decided by him alone as the administrative head.

Therefore, the Hanlin academicians and the six ministers only had the right to make suggestions and execute orders in the government.

This situation ended when the new emperor summoned these three scholars to "participate in state affairs."

They are actually running the government.

Doing so would be a huge departure from the system established by the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Because Emperor Jianwen's advisers were now placed in a position to govern above the six ministries.

They now both formulate and implement policies, much like what the prime ministers in some previous dynasties did.

They just lacked the title of prime minister.

The absence of this title is just a formal respect for the "Ancestral Instructions" of Ming Taizu, because the "Ancestral Instructions" strictly prohibits the appointment of a prime minister.

Zhu Yuanzhang came to his senses and realized that the root of the problem was here. The subsequent emperors followed suit and learned from it.

"Father, they don't respect our ancestors' rules and are openly violating the policies set by our late emperor!"

Zhu Di couldn't help but complain, looking for an excuse for himself to raise an army in the future.

"Ah, you can't say that. A new emperor chooses new ministers. Once the old emperor dies, the new emperor will have his own governing philosophy. Can the old emperor jump out of his mausoleum to stop it?"

Wang Buli seemed to have given an explanation, but in fact he was adding fuel to the fire.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face looked very ugly, fortunately it was dark around him.

Seeing Wang Buli speaking so loudly, Zhu Di nodded and didn't say anything more.

To be honest, he now really wanted to know how heroically he died when he led 800 people to revolt against the central government!
Or will it succeed?
Zhu Di began to think about the old generals and the younger generation of generals in the court. Would they still be alive when they reached that age? Would the young generals who were still alive be able to defeat him?

Among them, Mu Ying and Lan Yu were his opponents, and Zhu Di felt that he was somewhat embarrassed.

"Emperor Jianwen listened to Fang Xiaoru's advice and promoted the six ministers from the second rank to the first rank, and added a post of Shizhong between the ministers and the vice ministers.

This institutional change raised the six ministers to the same level as the dusi.

Since the abolition of the prime minister, the rank of the Dusi (similar to the modern military region) was higher than that of any civil servant.

Therefore, as he consciously kept the government firmly in the hands of civil officials, the status and authority of the six ministers were enhanced. "

"It turns out that they are heading for the model of the Song Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at the giant screen and said, "First, raise the status of civil officials, and then take the opportunity to suppress the position of military generals. Good, good, I now know how they lost."

"Lost?"

“I actually won!”

When Zhu Di heard the news, his scalp went numb.

He knew that this was not the first time his father had entered the wonderland. He and his eldest brother had entered it many times before.

It turns out that he succeeded in his campaign to pacify the country and became the emperor?
Zhu Di didn't think that after he successfully advised the emperor with the help of 800 soldiers, he would still hypocritically find someone to be a puppet emperor.

We are so powerful, why can't we be the emperor ourselves?

Besides, I am also Taizu’s son!

Wang Buli also showed surprise on his face at the right time, and couldn't help but say: "That's good, Old Four, I didn't expect you to be the emperor!"

"I, I didn't expect that either!"

Zhu Di couldn't help but start to laugh foolishly.

There is still a big gap between his current experience and his future experience.

"This shows that the new emperor Zhu Yunwen is really not doing a good job. He had so many troops but was defeated by your 800 men. It must be said that what was exposed is definitely not just the suppression of military men."

"good."

Zhu Yuanzhang also spoke at the right time. Although he wanted the Ming Emperor to succeed to the throne according to his own ideas.

But Zhu Yuanzhang was really angry that his successor wanted to overturn the ancestral system set by him, the old emperor, and was led by those scholars.

He has become a complete puppet of Confucianism and does not have the slightest ability to think for himself.

Could it be that after I grew old, my eyesight has become blurry and I am no longer able to recognize people?

Zhu Yuanzhang began to doubt himself at this time. After all, he only knew the result at the beginning, and what he had seen before were mostly the actions of his descendants in later generations.

He knew nothing about the actions of the emperor whom he had personally selected and helped to ascend to the throne.

Zhu Yunwen's actions completely disregarded the thoughts of his grandfather. He just threw it aside after use and even stepped on it a few times, which really broke Zhu Yuanzhang's defense.

I have always been the one using others, how could I be used by others?

Not even the grandson!

If this grandson had been capable, Zhu Yuanzhang would have been able to swallow his anger even if he was unwilling. Unexpectedly, he was incompetent and started to carry out reforms on his own.

If this isn't becoming a puppet of those scholars, then what is this?
If it weren't for the Fourth Brother's Jingnan Rebellion, if things had continued as they have, the Ming Dynasty would have become a weak Song Dynasty, and would have been doomed to failure by any foreign invasion.

"Not only that, under Fang Xiaoru's ancient operation, the number of departments under the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice was reduced from twelve to four."

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's idea, the Ministry of Revenue has a large number of people who can quickly calculate their own data. Now that the staff is reduced, it will be even more difficult for the emperor to grasp the real data below.

As for the Ministry of Justice, it goes without saying that it will definitely abolish my idea of ​​governing the country with severe laws and give those corrupt officials a break.

“At the same time, the various duties and staffing of the Imperial College and the Hanlin Academy were greatly improved and expanded.

The emphasis was placed on Confucian education and the strengthening of the advisory role of Hanlin scholars in the government.

New positions were also established in the Zhanshi Palace to enable Hanlin academicians to play a greater role in the education and training of the crown prince and young princes.

The various changes made to the organization of the six ministries and their subordinate departments, the changes in the titles of officials and the emperor's attendants, and the reforms in the names of various government offices in Nanjing were all based on the ancient Zhou Li.

"Okay, it's really one set after another!"

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help clapping his hands and commented on his son and son-in-law:
"This is to make the emperors of our Ming Dynasty become puppets of Confucianism for generations. They must be trained from a young age, and the number of these scholars in the court must be increased. Within a few years, they will occupy various positions in the court. From now on, Ming Dynasty will be the world of scholars."

Wang Buli could hear the coldness in Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

"Your Majesty, these changes are not simply a symbolic restoration of the ancient model, presumably to return power to the Emperor's trusted advisors.

The intention was to strengthen the rule of civil officials in order to weaken the power of generals and princes in the court. In short, civil officials were in charge.

In this way, the questions in the imperial examinations were controlled by them, and all those who passed the examinations were their students.

How can we not form cliques and pursue personal interests when everyone’s interests are connected?”

cabinet.

This word had already popped up in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind.

He has a deep understanding of the cabinet, just like a prime minister without the title of prime minister.

"Yes, they play a special role in state affairs and are simply the embodiment of the emperor."

Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely annoyed about this matter. You are implementing this kind of retro style of governing before my body is even cold, right?

Do you still think these three people are doing this for your own good?

It's so stupid!

Wang Buli drank a sip of ice and said, "Your Majesty, their policies have deviated from the established arrangements of the Hongwu era.

The first measure was that the new emperor improved the strict legal system implemented by Your Majesty, which provided an excellent breeding ground for corrupt officials in the Ming officialdom.

There are still so many people who take advantage of the strict laws today. Once the laws are corrupted, the people will suffer, officials will enjoy wealth, and corrupt officials will increase.

They moved all the money, grain and people that belonged to the Ming Dynasty to their own homes, so how could the Ming Dynasty not go downhill? "

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang always adhered to strict laws, otherwise he would not have repeatedly updated the Ming Code and formulated the Great Edict to make it the legal code for the whole country.

"Father, there will be no problem for me to raise an army to restore our ancestral system." Zhu Di muttered softly on the side.

(End of this chapter)