Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 122 Talent
After resolving some unstable factors brought about by the civil service group, both Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunhuan felt that the efficiency of handling government affairs had been much higher in recent times.

Occasionally, civil and military officials would raise objections, but they were mostly out of public interest, not a test or restriction of imperial power, nor was it to put public interest above private interest.

This is naturally a very good thing. Not only has the efficiency of work been improved to a certain extent, but the most important thing is that there is less internal friction, even if there are some political disagreements, etc. But overall, there is still a certain centripetal force.

If we all work together, we will naturally improve our work efficiency.

Zhu Yunhuan was in a good mood and called Guo Zhen, "Uncle, I have a tough job for you to do."

Guo Zhen is only twenty-three now. Five years ago, he married the twelfth daughter of the emperor, Princess Yongjia Zhu Shanqing.

Guo Zhen immediately said, "Your Highness has given your orders. I will do my best."

Zhu Yunhuan said politely, "We are family members, so we don't need to be polite. My sister and I are where we are today, thanks to Concubine Ning's care."

Guo Zhen knew that what the Crown Prince said was a bit exaggerated, but he couldn't help but sigh at his good luck.

His father was the emperor's "Guo Si", a bodyguard of the emperor in his early years, and now he was also responsible for guarding the imperial city. His aunt had a good relationship with the crown prince two years ago and was quite respected by the crown prince.

This friendship naturally benefited Guo Zhen a lot, so much so that the dandy founding Duke Chang Sheng treated Guo Zhen as a brother when he met him. Duke Lan Yu of Liang, who looked down on all the nobles, also respected Guo Ying and Guo Zhen very much.

"I mean that uncle should take people to the coast for a tour." Zhu Yunhuan said, "Now the court has a maritime ban, but there are still people going out to sea privately. Uncle has to check it out."

The maritime ban was naturally Zhu's policy. However, official trade and tribute still maintained a certain scale, and some coastal people also knew the risks and benefits of maritime trade, and there was no shortage of daring smugglers.

Guo Zhen immediately accepted the order and said, "I obey your command."

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Don't rush to kill the people after you catch them. Find out which clans they belong to and where they went after they went out to sea. Find out when the wind is strong enough to go out to sea and when the wind is favorable enough to return to Ming."

Guo Zhen thought about it carefully before saying, "Your Highness, I heard that many people in Fuguang went out to sea without permission."

The Fujian and Guangdong regions do have some traditions of going to Southeast Asia, and hundreds of years later, there is no shortage of people who dare to think and work hard. As long as Mazu does not object, they can go to any country.

It is actually the same now. For example, Chen Zuyi, a big pirate who may be the one that countless small countries dare not provoke in Southeast Asia in the future, fled to Southeast Asia with his entire family from Guangdong.

For example, Shi Jinqing, an overseas Chinese from Srivijaya in Southeast Asia, was originally from Guangdong. Historically, he was appointed as the Envoy of Jiugang by Zhu Di. Unfortunately, no one paid attention to this springboard, and it was lost in less than 50 years under the remote control of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yunxun thought about it carefully and asked, "Among the nobles, which ones are familiar with naval warfare?"

Guo Zhen immediately replied, "Zhang Rong, the commander of the right naval guard, is a son of a general. His father, Zhang He, the Duke of Xian'en, chased the Japanese pirates to Ryukyu and opened up the Liaodong maritime transport."

Zhang He, also known as Marquis of Hanghai and posthumously named Duke of Enguo, unfortunately passed away due to illness four years ago.

Guo Zhen continued, "Marquis Zhu Shou of Zhuolu supervised the grain transport with Duke Xian'en, so he should be familiar with naval warfare."

Guo Zhen looked at Zhu Yunhuan and said carefully, "The former Marquis of Jinghai once led the navy of the four guards of Jiangyin to hunt down the Japanese pirates. He traveled on the sea and the Japanese pirates dared not approach him."

Wu Zhen, Marquis of Jinghai, was one of the twenty-four generals of Huaixi. However, after his death, Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously identified him as a member of the Hu Weiyong rebel party, which naturally meant that his title was abolished.

Zhu Yunhuan thought for a moment and asked, "Does Marquis Jinghai have any offspring?"

Guo Zhen replied, "His son Wu Zhong inherited the title, and after the title was abolished, he moved to Guangxi to pacify the barbarians."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly. Theoretically, if someone was deposed from his title, he would definitely be executed. However, for those who were identified as Hu Weiyong's followers, Zhu showed some mercy and only deposed them from their titles.

Guo Zhen continued, "Marquis Jinghai was the commander-in-chief at the time, and Yu Xian was the deputy commander-in-chief."

Yu Xian was posthumously named Marquis of Yingshan, not a hereditary title.

Zhu Yunhuan nodded and suddenly asked, "Is that girl my eighth aunt?"

Guo Zhen nodded carefully, because the Princess of Tan and Zhu Zi burned themselves to death at home in the 23rd year of Hongwu. This was because the Princess's brother Yu Hu was implicated in the Hu Weiyong case and was executed. As a result, the 22-year-old Prince of Tan was so terrified that he burned himself to death with the Princess.

Zhu Yunhuan thought about it carefully and said, "Call Zhang Rong and Zhu Shou first."

Looking at Guo Zhen, Zhu Yunhuan said, "You go to Zhejiang and investigate the smuggling activities and the remnants of Zhang Shicheng. If you find any Japanese pirates, execute them immediately."

In fact, Japanese pirates had already started to disturb the border at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Now in the Ming Dynasty, many of them were active in Liaodong and Zhejiang coasts.

The external reason is that Japan has a maritime ban, but some illegal traders smuggle in order to make money. In addition, Japan is actually divided, with the Northern and Southern Dynasties and two emperors. Therefore, many defeated lords, ronin, etc., also became Japanese pirates. In addition, the remnant forces in the south such as Zhang Shicheng and the coastal smugglers cooperated with Japanese pirates, and the hidden dangers of Japanese pirates were not small.

As for Fu Guang’s side, naturally, we need to arrange other people to check it out.

Zhu Yunhuan had always been looking forward to the opening of the sea. He also knew that in any era, going to sea would involve taking certain risks, which was inevitable.

But taking risks and gambling with human lives are two different things. I still need to accumulate some technical skills.

Seeing Guo Zhen was about to leave, Zhu Yunhuan said, "When you go to Zhejiang, remember to go to King Wulin. Paying homage is one thing, but coming back to pay homage is also necessary. I'm afraid he's lost his mind while traveling around."

Guo Zhen accepted the order with a strange look on his face. The King of Wulin, who was once believed to be extremely close to the throne of the Crown Prince, is now a "taboo" for the civil and military nobles in the court, and no one dares to mention him.

In fact, Zhu Yunwen came back after he was enfeoffed, but he only paid homage to the crown prince Zhu Biao and then rushed back to Hangzhou without stopping. The emperor basically did not approach him, and it was difficult for Lu Shi to see him in the deep palace.

The main reason was that this Wulin King was very special. Before he became a vassal, he was so "wise" that he lowered his salary and gave the royal family a hard lesson. Even when he was a vassal in Hangzhou, he was reported to have been extravagant last year, so much so that he needed the crown prince to raise gold and silver for rescue.

Such a result naturally made the emperor very angry. Not only did he issue an edict to reprimand the emperor, he was also considering not being able to provide all the supplies to the royal family at once, and not being able to take rice directly from the royal family and vassal states' fiefdoms.

In fact, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the King of Wulin was controlled by the Crown Prince and became a tool for him to build his reputation and prestige. But no matter what, on the surface, they were brothers who were friendly and respectful to each other, and could be regarded as a role model for the world.

If the King of Wulin returns to Beijing this time, I wonder what kind of trouble he will encounter.

Especially now that the emperor and the crown prince have further strengthened their control over the court, the return of the King of Wulin to the capital must be a big event.

Seeing Guo Zhen leave, Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "In a few days, ask the aunts and uncles to come to the palace and tell them that my nephew is hosting a family dinner. The uncles who are still in Beijing, come as well, and we can have the dinner in the East Palace."

Zhang Fusheng reminded quietly, "Your Highness, these things should be reported to His Majesty."

Zhu Yunxun rolled his eyes at Zhang Fusheng and asked, "Do I need you to tell me?"

Zhang Fusheng immediately knelt down, looking terrified, "I admit my guilt!"

"Get up." Zhu Yunxun said with some disinterest, "You have been with me for two years, and you know what kind of person I am. If you are like this, forget it."

No jokes can be made. In addition to Zhu Yunhuan's identity, it is also because of his work style and his personality that many people feel that "serving the emperor is like serving a tiger."

Zhu Yunhuan did not rush to find Old Zhu immediately, but picked up the memorial and read it carefully.

He has made some progress. The authority given to him by Zhu Yuanzhang to approve memorials is also increasing. Some political affairs are actually handled directly by Zhu Yunhuan now. This is no longer just an ordinary observation of politics.

Even Zhu Yunhuan's "observation of government" was a mess. He did not have to attend court every day, but he had to sit in the yamen almost every day and deal with many things in the Wenhua Hall.

Others were in name only, but Zhu Yunhu was just the opposite, he was real but not in name. He lacked the authority to "observe government affairs" or "govern" under the emperor's personal decree.

Everyone pretended to be ignorant even though they knew the truth. It would be asking for trouble to argue with the emperor and the crown prince about these things at this time.

Spring ploughing and autumn harvest are very important things, but Zhu Yunhuan was worried about natural disasters and man-made disasters in spring and summer.

Zhu Yunhuan picked up the brush and wrote, "Farming is the source of food and clothing, and the basis of people's livelihood. However, droughts and floods occur from time to time, so we must be prepared. I have always ordered officials to repair water conservancy projects, but they did not follow through on the schedule, causing the people to suffer."

There is no typo. Zhu Yunhuan simply wrote "朕". Although Zhu often wrote imperial edicts using "我", "吾", etc., it would not be wrong to use "朕".

"Send students and talents from the Imperial Academy to counties and prefectures throughout the country to supervise officials and civilians in repairing water conservancy projects. Gather officials and civilians to assess the appropriateness of water conservancy projects during the farming off-season. All ponds, lakes and weirs that can store water for drought relief and prevent floods should be repaired according to the terrain. Do not impose labor services on our people without reason."

Zhu Yunhuan wrote these down and gave them to Zhang Fusheng, "Send them to my uncle and ask the Imperial College to do the job."

Although there is a saying that "scholars are good for nothing", it is not absolute.

Zhu Yuanzhang had previously stipulated that scholars in the Ming Dynasty must practice archery. Although most scholars today do not possess the six arts of a gentleman, not all of them only know how to do it.

In addition to studying, these students of the Imperial College also had one foot in the officialdom. Many officials in the court were selected directly from the Imperial College.

It is also very necessary to let the students of the highest institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty do some practical work and understand the people's livelihood.

Lest some people only talk big and put forward some unrealistic ideas of governance. It is necessary to combine theory with practice, which is the quality that an official should have, and it is better to do some practical things!
(End of this chapter)