Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 101 Gonghuo
We always need some reasonable excuses and reasons to stir up some bigger events.

Just like Hu Weiyong in the past, if he is not given enough opportunities, he will not expand rapidly. Only when he becomes crazy can the effect of suppressing him be better.

The civil officials never gave up the challenge to the imperial power, but they were no match for the Hongwu Emperor who held the military power.

However, these people may not give up completely. They are also waiting for some opportunities.

When talking about the rapid rise of Ming Dynasty civil servants in history, we have to mention Zhu Qizhen, Yu Qian and Zhang Juzheng.

Although it seemed difficult for the Ming Dynasty to have truly powerful officials, the decline of the noble group and the severe damage caused by the Battle of Tumu Fortress in the middle and late Ming Dynasty allowed the civil servants to begin to become bigger and stronger.

The result was that the emperor could only rely more on eunuchs to restrain civil officials, and those civil officials gradually became the same as those in the Song Dynasty.

"Once the literary inquisition and Tonghai case were carried out, the scholars might be obedient." In the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Yunhuan said to himself, "The civil servants of the Qing Dynasty look honest, unlike the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty who had to fight for the imperial caning from time to time. They are more loyal than the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yunhuan thought carefully with his eyes closed, and felt that there was some opportunity. "Find a suitable reason to win over the hearts of the northern scholars. The southern scholars need to be suppressed and attacked. Is this a replica of the Tonghai case?"

During the Tonghai case, which occurred in the 16th year of Shunzhi's reign, Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Huangyan, the assistant minister of the Southern Ming military department, joined forces, with the help of some Ming loyalists, in an effort to restore the Ming Dynasty.

The result was naturally a military defeat, but when it came to the hands of Shunzhi and others, he was convicted of Tonghai and was collectively known as the Three Major Cases of Jiangnan along with the Jiangnan Case of Cancellation of the Case and the Case of Crying in the Temple.

The result of this was that the gentry and powerful people in Jiangnan suffered a severe blow. Although they had some complaints, they were more obedient to the Qing court.

"The Hu Weiyong case was used to strike at the power of the civil service, and the power of the prime minister was completely abolished."

"Let's not talk about the Guo Huan case for now. The South and North List case was launched ahead of time, plus other excuses. The southern gentry will not be seriously injured, but at least they won't dare to think too much in the short term, right?"

"What a pity! If we find other reasons, we can be more thorough! We can't say that the gentry in Jiangnan colluded with the remnants of Zhang Shicheng's defeated army? Otherwise, collusion with the Japanese and foreigners?"

Zhu Yunhuan knew that if he did this, some innocent people would definitely be implicated.

But he would still do so because he needed a more stable Jiangnan, a Jiangnan that did not dare to become disloyal to the imperial court.

The more important thing is that the power of the southern civil servants is too strong. He needs a court structure that can balance the north and the south and no longer be based on north and south as the basis of one's origin.

Then let's play the long game and catch the big fish. Zhu Yunhuan should do the same.

Rumors that the emperor was ill suddenly spread.

Some people were secretly observing and it seemed to be the case. The emperor often showed some fatigue during the morning court session. Although he was still trying hard to handle government affairs, he seemed to have a tendency to lose some control.

As for the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, he is very busy now.

All day long he was either summoning the Imperial Guards, inspecting the military camp in Beijing accompanied by nobles, or focusing on controlling the "Twenty-Four Yamen".

The so-called twenty-four yamen refer to the twelve surveillance offices, four departments and eight bureaus.

This is an institution serving the royal family. Although it is run by eunuchs, not all of them are eunuchs.

Zhu Yunhuan was not in a hurry to contact the "First Office" Silijian. In fact, in the current Ming Dynasty, the "Neiguanjian" was the highest-ranking office.

The Military Equipment Bureau was what Zhu Yunhuan cared about. This government office was also responsible for manufacturing military equipment, and the Gunpowder Bureau was also under its jurisdiction.

Firearms were widely used by the Ming army. Mu Ying had used the three-stage attack when he suppressed the rebellion, and firearms were also very effective during the Poyang Lake naval battle.

The Wankou gun is a representative example, and the popularity of firearms in the Ming Dynasty exceeded Zhu Yunhuan's expectations.

Zhu had previously stipulated that "for every 100 households in the army, there should be 10 guns." He also stipulated that "each sea-going ship of the navy should be equipped with four bowl-mouth guns, 16 hand gun barrels, 20 muskets, 20 rockets and 20 magic arrows, etc."

The big iron cannon? Zhu Yunhuan thought this might not be a good idea. Would it be more powerful if it was a copper cannon?
It’s a pity that the Ming Dynasty never had enough copper.

"Smokeless gunpowder?" Zhu Yunhuan thought about it carefully and said to himself, "I don't know how to do this, but nowadays gunpowder is basically powder. No wonder they say that firearms are hard to use once it rains."

Then think carefully and see if it is possible to granulate gunpowder, which can greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

It is probably impossible to produce a flintlock rifle now, but if we can make grenades and other things, our combat effectiveness will be greatly improved.

Even if they are just some simplified versions of grenades, they may be able to bring about a significant improvement in combat effectiveness.

Zhang Fusheng interrupted Zhu Yunhuan's thoughts and said, "Your Highness, the commander of the Jinyiwei wants to see you."

Zhu Yunhuan raised his head and said, "Let him in."

Jiang Li entered the palace and immediately reported, "Your Highness, the powerful Goryeo minister Lee Seong-gye has usurped the throne!"

Zhu Yunhuan immediately became serious, then laughed, "Come to think of it, it's about time. It's time for him to usurp the throne." Wang's Goryeo had always had unclear relations with Mongolia. It did not recognize the Ming Dynasty in the past. After becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, it disobeyed the Ming Dynasty because of the conflict in Tieling Wei.

The King of Goryeo originally wanted to attack Liao directly, but Lee Seong-gye returned to Wihwa Island and returned to Kaesong, and then began to continuously attack political enemies and became a powerful official in Goryeo.

It has been four years since then. Lee Seong-gye deposed and enthroned the king of Goryeo, exiled and killed his political enemies, and spent four years basically clearing the obstacles to usurping the throne.

Jiang Li continued to report, "It has been found out that four months ago, the King of Goryeo personally went to Lee Seong-gye's residence to swear an oath, and the Goryeo ministers persuaded him to ascend the throne. Lee Seong-gye declined three times and has now ascended the throne. It is said that he sent an envoy, Zhao Pang, to the Ming Dynasty the day after he ascended the throne. I think he is still on the way."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly. This matter was not particularly beyond his expectations.

Many people believe that the reason why Lee Seong-gye was able to successfully usurp the throne was because the Ming Dynasty stood idly by and provided the opportunity.

At the beginning, Wang's Goryeo minister Saek and others hoped to use the power of the Ming Dynasty to stop Lee Seong-gye's conspiracy to usurp the throne, and asked Zhu to agree to let Goryeo leader Wang Chang come to the court in person. However, Zhu felt that "it is up to them to establish and dethrone, and China has nothing to do with it."

Later, ministers Yin Yi and Li Chu requested to send troops to attack Li Chenggui, but were still rejected by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang was an absolute pragmatist. He naturally valued the status of the suzerain state. No one would not like to have other nations come to pay tribute.

But if it was necessary to send troops to a distant land to help other vassal states conquer the world, Zhu would definitely not be willing to do so. At most, he would send envoys to mediate, or agree to some unimportant matters for the vassal states.

In short, no damage should be caused to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly and said, "Keep paying attention to this matter and let me know if there is any news. Remember to tell some great scholars and scholars about these things so that they can also know about them."

Jiang Li was a little embarrassed, but after hesitating for a moment, he said, "I obey your order."

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "The provincial examination is about to begin. The Imperial Guards should investigate the provincial examinations in various places. If there are any cases of favoritism, fraud or examination fraud, they should be arrested immediately."

The provincial examination is also held every three years and will be held next year. Scholars who pass the autumn examination and become juren are eligible to enter the capital for the joint examination.

Some talented people in each province would be qualified to become officials once they passed the imperial examination.

These are all major events, so they naturally need to be treated with caution. Not only the imperial examination is a grand ceremony for selecting talents, but also the provincial examinations in various places.

At dinner time, Zhu Yunhuan naturally ran to Old Zhu's place.

As soon as he saw Zhu Yunhuan, Old Zhu said proudly, "People are saying outside that we may not survive for another year or two, right?"

"There are these rumors, and I guess the Jinyiwei are fanning the flames." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "We don't need to do this. How can we curse ourselves?"

Lao Zhu said nonchalantly, "We are not afraid of those, as long as those people believe it."

Then Old Zhu became even happier, "People outside are saying that you are anxious, right? You are always watching the Five Military Commandery, which is good. You should be in charge of the army, but now those people think that we are no longer capable, and you, the crown prince, are anxious to stabilize the situation."

"It's a blessing in disguise, and it's good." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "If this continues, in less than a year, those restless people below will jump out."

Old Zhu also warned seriously, "Don't subdue them all at once, otherwise those people won't dare to show their heads. If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. If the situation is unclear, those people will dare to jump up and down."

"Then grandfather, please stop acting so much. Don't let me be caught in a dilemma." Zhu Yunhuan looked at Old Zhu and said worriedly, "We are just teaming up to deceive the civil officials in the south, especially those in eastern Zhejiang. I, the grandson, am not eager to become the emperor."

Old Zhu immediately picked up the wine glass and took a sip with a guilty conscience, without saying anything.

Zhu Yunxun was really anxious, "Do you really think so?"

"Asshole!" Old Zhu shouted even louder, slamming the table fiercely, "On the contrary, you bastard from Tiangang, we are doing this for your own good!"

Zhu Yunhuan's plan was to do something to clean up some interest groups in the court, to integrate the north and the south and balance the situation.

Old Zhu naturally agreed and recognized all of these, but he felt that if he gave his grandson some military power and allowed him to take over more political affairs, that would be a good thing and should not be missed.

Zhu Yunhuan was really anxious, "Grandfather, I'm not in a hurry to be the emperor!"

"You are not anxious, but I am afraid!" said Lao Zhu. "We are pretending to be sick and weak now, but we are also afraid that we will really be unable to do it someday. If you can take over more now, we will feel at ease."

Zhu Yunhuan was silent for a moment, then said, "I didn't say I wouldn't take it, but there's no need to be so anxious. How convenient is it for me to use the Jinyiwei? The government offices in the palace are now just doing what I say first, and then reporting to you, old man."

Old Zhu was extremely pleased and said, "This is a good thing. When they do things directly according to your wishes, it will be considered a success. Now they are doing things, and we are the ones who are keeping them in check!"

This is true, Zhu Yunhuan admitted it.

Zhu Yunhuan thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll be more anxious and add fuel to the fire!"

(End of this chapter)