Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 112: Continued Embarrassment
It was no longer a secret that Emperor Hongwu could no longer hold on, but a consensus among many people. Some bolder ones even dared to discuss it in private.

Even though the emperor seems to be still trying hard to attend court, his energy is no longer as abundant as before.

Some of the attempts by the civil servants actually had certain effects.

Zhan Hui and others pointed out that two of the six ministers were vacant. If it happened in the past, this would not be surprising. In the Ming Dynasty, it was normal for more than half of the six ministers to be vacant, let alone two.

It doesn’t matter if there is no Shangshu for one or two years, but it is not without precedent if there is no Shangshu for three consecutive years.

But this time he could clearly feel that the emperor was different, and he began to hesitate.

Once the emperor begins to hesitate, it naturally becomes an opportunity for some people, and they can keep trying to test it.

It seemed like they were taking advantage of the emperor's old age and lack of energy, and that there were too many things to deal with in time, so the emperor finally gave in.

There is no problem with Yu Xin being the Minister of Revenue. His ability and background can be recognized by the civil servants.

However, the Minister of Works Yan Zhenzhi caused some resistance among the serious civil servants. Even though he performed well as the Vice Minister of Works, it was still difficult to satisfy the civil servants.

After a stalemate of one or two months, the emperor forced Yan Zhenzhi to serve as the Minister of Works.

The emperor won, at least on the surface. This time the Hongwu Emperor won a great victory. He put the officials he approved in the right positions.

However, many civil servants felt that they had reason to celebrate. It took the emperor more than a month to implement this matter. This was the best proof!

The emperor is old and his energy is not as good as before!

In the second half of the 26th year of Hongwu, another major event occurred.

Jinyiwei Zhu Zhong impeached Shangshu Zhao Mian for accepting stolen goods. If it had happened in the past, he would have been executed. Even in his position, if he was not careful, he would have set off a big case and many officials would have been in trouble.

But this time it was different. Zhao Mian would not sit still and wait for death. He colluded with people from all walks of life and lobbied. His father-in-law, Liu Sanwu, a Hanlin scholar with a world-renowned literary reputation, was also working hard.

Soon, Yang Jing, the Minister of Justice, discovered something and thought that the Jinyiwei might be framing him because there were loopholes in the clues.

Under the leadership of Lian Zining, Censor Ding Zhifang and others frantically impeached Zhu Zhong.

Everyone knew that Zhu Zhong was the Crown Prince Zhu Yunhuan's man, but this time the Crown Prince failed to protect him.

Countless ministers even acted as if they were about to cry in the palace, and frantically impeached the Jinyiwei for acting recklessly and framing loyal officials. The sinister Zhu Zhong now wanted to recreate the horrific scene where the imperial guards were everywhere and the whole country was shaken.

The emperor was also annoyed and had no choice but to order Zhu Zhong to be beaten with a stick and demoted directly.

If the Crown Prince had not been angry, Zhu Zhong might have been killed as a warning to others.

Lian Zining was successfully promoted in this struggle and took the position of Left Censor-in-Chief left by Zhan Hui after he stepped down, becoming the head of the Ming Dynasty's censors.

Emperor Hongwu was old and could no longer kill people.

But the Crown Prince was still young, and he backed down in the face of collective pressure from all the civil servants in the court. He could only resort to unreasonable and childish means to protect Zhu Zhong, his confidant.

The civil servants won a great victory again. They were no longer the scholars who were arbitrarily killed by the emperor and beaten and humiliated by the nobles in the early days of the founding of the country. Now they wanted to make their own voices heard in the court!
Zhu Yunhuan seemed to be in a state of disgrace in the court, but he was still in a good mood, and everything was being implemented correctly according to plan.

As winter was approaching, Zhu Yunhuan was looking through some memorials sent from the Ministry of Revenue.

The population of the Ming Dynasty has just exceeded 60 million. Compared with the beginning of the founding of the country, the population has skyrocketed in the past thirty years, which makes Zhu Yunhuan quite satisfied.

However, it is not a population explosion now. After all, food is limited and the level of productivity is also limited. If the population reaches 100 million now, the burden on Ming Dynasty will be very heavy.

If there were no high-yield grains, etc., it would be impossible to reach the population of 400 million during the Qing Dynasty.

In terms of land area, it reached nearly 400 million mu, and the tax revenue reached 3,200 shi.

Everything seems to be thriving, and the Ming Dynasty is rapidly developing towards a well-governed society.

Lao Zhu came over to take a look and asked, "What did you see?"

Zhu Yunhuan pointed at the document and said, "Nanzhili has 10 million people, Zhejiang has 10 million people, Jiangxi has almost 9 million people, and Shandong has 5 million people. Henan has less than 2 million people, and Yunnan has less than 300,000 registered people in our Ming Dynasty."

Old Zhu sighed and said, "After all, the south of the Yangtze River is still rich. In the early years, the north was at war. It is normal that there are few people and poor land now. I am afraid that we are powerless to do these things. You have to do it."

Zhu Yunhuan also understood this truth, but still said, "Jiangnan should develop when it is time to develop, but it should also be restricted. The areas in the north must be well governed."

It's no wonder that Zhu Yunhuan thought so. Henan has only 1.9 million people, Shaanxi has 2.3 million, Shanxi is a little better at 4 million, Beijing has 1.9 million, and Sichuan and Guangxi both have 1.4 million people.

The population of the south of Qinling Mountains and Huaihe River accounts for about three quarters of the country's population, while the population of the north of Qinling Mountains and Huaihe River accounts for only one quarter. The population of the south is concentrated in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which also means that there are more people and less land in places like Jiangnan.

It’s no wonder that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to relocate the people. If some places don’t have enough population and people, they can’t be controlled and can’t be truly developed.

Old Zhu continued, "We are not too worried about the south now. People say that we impose heavy taxes in Jiangnan. If we don't collect taxes here, are we going to collect taxes in other places?"

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "I will definitely collect taxes here as well. I won't be able to collect much tax from other places, but I can't let the noble families collect the grain. They take the money home and hide it, but I can use the tax money in other places."

Old Zhu joked, "If you are bullied by those civil servants in the court, that's what you deserve. With your attitude, there's no way they will like you!"

Zhu Yunhuan burst out laughing and said, "Let them run rampant for another two months. After the Spring Examination, some of them will cry."

Old Zhu asked, "After the New Year comes the Spring Examination. Who do you think should be the chief examiner?"

"Zhao Mian," Zhu Yunxun said directly, "He was originally a second-class Jinshi, and he has a father-in-law who is a leader in the literary world. He is now in great glory!"

Old Zhu laughed in silence, "You are afraid that he won't die early enough or happily enough!"

"Since you dare to accept the stolen goods, you must be prepared to die." Zhu Yunhuan said, "This man is of the same character as Liu Sanwu. He seems to be upright, but he sticks to one place."

The southern civil officials felt that there was nothing wrong with selecting people based on their abilities. However, if they did not have a sense of the overall situation and did not treat the northern Ming people as their own family, then don't blame Zhu Yunhuan for being rude.

The recovered north and Yunnan and Guizhou, which were directly incorporated into the central court, both need to be continuously developed and the people's hearts need to be continuously won over.

It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang's recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and the reconciliation of the north and the south was a great achievement, but recovering Yunnan and Guizhou was also a great achievement. In the past, places like Yunnan were not inherent territories of the central court.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan and said, "You recommended your uncle to be the chief examiner, and you will lose face again in the court."

Looking at Old Zhu, Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help but complain, "Grandfather, the crown princes of other families should cultivate their hopes and develop their wings. But for me, it's different. I'm either embarrassing myself or on the way to embarrassment."

Old Zhu was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily, "You asked for this! If you save your energy and do nothing, we can still improve your reputation."

It seems to be true. If Zhu Yunhuan did not do anything, Old Zhu would rush to help "maintain his position".

But when Zhu Yunhuan started to make trouble, he brought the shame upon himself and could not blame anyone else.

Zhu Yunxun laughed and said, "After the imperial examination next year, I will be the one to deal with this matter. We have to make up for the loss we made now."

Old Zhu nodded with a smile, "It's your turn to do it. It doesn't matter if you lose face. I was humble and modest in front of the King of Chuyang, and I was respectful to Guo Tianxu, but in the end, I still ruled the country."

Guo Zixing was very kind to Zhu Yuanzhang, but he was also suspicious of and suppressed by him.

Guo Tianxu even had the intention to kill Zhu Yuanzhang, but in the end he was defeated and died, so many people said that Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately killed Guo Tianxu.

Temporary embarrassment is really nothing, and Zhu Yunhuan would not take these things to heart because they are harmless.

When everything is settled, many people will review some of the events during this period, and they may only sigh and fear at Zhu Yunhuan's deep thoughts.

Now Zhu Yunhuan's loss of face will only become one of the sources of others' respect for him.

The emperor is in poor health and his control over state affairs is declining.

The Crown Prince is young and can be bullied, and now he does not have the ability to control the government.

All this also made Zhan Hui breathe a sigh of relief. He originally thought that it was a dead end, but now it seems that is not the case at all. He still has more hope.

In the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Yunhuan summoned a group of ministers, "Next year is the year of the imperial examination. Who do you think should be the chief examiner?"

Zhan Hui immediately said, "Your Highness, please make the decision."

The emperor is no longer in charge of the matter, so it is natural that the crown prince will decide on the chief examiner.

Zhu Yunhuan said, "He should be the consort of Princess Ningguo. He is suitable."

The civil officials were not happy about this. Mei Yin was a relative of the emperor, and the imperial examination was a basic system that could not be interfered with by these noble relatives. When Li Wenzhong was in charge of the Imperial Academy, many scholars complained.

Zhan Hui immediately said, "Your Highness, please think twice! The talent selection ceremony is a major event for the court, and the examiner should have prestige among scholars. Although the son-in-law is talented, it is difficult to convince the public."

The others also knelt down, "Your Highness, please think twice!"

Zhu Yunhuan's face turned pale and he shouted angrily, "Let me decide, but you don't recognize the person I mentioned! Ah, then who do you think is suitable?"

(End of this chapter)