Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Some things may be able to be fully promoted soon, and Zhu Yunhuan has also begun to take some things seriously.

There seemed to be a war in the north, but Zhu Yunhuan actually had nothing particularly to worry about.

Zhu Gang and Zhu Di both led troops before, and with the assistance of Lan Yu and Fu Youde, as well as a large number of elite soldiers and generals, there was naturally nothing to worry about.

Moreover, the targets of this battle were not the absolute main force of the Mongolian tribe, but some relatively small tribes. It was not a strategic decisive battle, so naturally there was no need to worry about too many casualties.

At this time, Zhu Yunhuan also felt that the candidate for the Minister of Rites really needed to be decided as soon as possible, otherwise it would be a bit inconvenient.

If they really went out to sea, making money and exploring were of course their top priorities. But they also wanted to promote the power of the Ming Dynasty, so officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple needed to appear.

However, according to the current style of the Ming Dynasty, it must be a matter of courtesy before force. The fleet must have tens of thousands of soldiers. If they do not obey the king, the Ming Dynasty can only attack them.

This was very normal. When Zheng He sailed to the West, he brought tens of thousands of soldiers with him. They helped to fight pirates, suppress foreign rebellions, and deal with those who dared to attack the Ming fleet.

As for whether to kill another king and then issue an edict to establish another king, that depends on the specific circumstances.

Thinking about this, Zhu Yunxun asked, "Master, where is Li Yuancheng from Annan now?"

Daoyan immediately replied, "Your Highness, Li Yuancheng is now resting in the inn arranged by the Honglu Temple. He has requested to see Your Majesty several times before, but was stopped every time."

When in Annan, Li Yuancheng was the son of a powerful official and was very prestigious. But when he came to the Ming Dynasty, his status was obviously just average, and his words and deeds had no weight.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Let him come to the court tomorrow to have an audience. It's really not a big deal to delay it like this."

Daoyan didn't know what to say for a moment. Theoretically, since the envoys from the vassal states had arrived, the emperor would definitely summon them and might even give them some rewards.

But Li Yuancheng's situation is a little special. This is because his father is very likely to usurp the throne, and the Ming Dynasty, as the suzerain state, looks down on him.

But this doesn't matter too much. At least Li Yuancheng is not completely ignored. There is still no problem arranging food and accommodation, etc. It's just that there is no formal summons for the time being, which is not considered a lack of courtesy.

Let's meet him. Zhu Yunhu really wants to see what research Li Yuancheng has on firearms, and also wants to let his father Hu Jinyao know the military power of the Ming Dynasty.

Daoyan naturally did not dare to have any opinions on this matter. He only needed to carry out the arrangements made by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

What's more, in Daoyan's heart, he also thinks that this approach is more appropriate, which means that this matter needs to be carried out well.

These are part of Zhu Yunhuan's daily work. After dealing with this matter, he naturally needs to continue to deal with other things.

There's nothing much to say about this. It's mainly because we're used to this state of things and have become accustomed to it. That, of course, means there won't be anything we're uncomfortable with.

The Minister of Revenue Yu Xin came to Wenhua Palace again. He also felt that the number of times he, the Minister of Works, appeared in Wenhua Palace far exceeded the number of times he appeared in Wuying Palace.

But Yu Xin is not the only one who feels this way about this kind of thing. Basically all those who hold high positions of power in the court feel the same way.

"Your Highness, there are many migrants in the imperial city pretending to be locals." Yu Xin said seriously, "Your Highness, I think this matter should be rectified."

Zhu Yunhuan could understand this. In the past, there were fewer people registered in Fengyang, so some people were relocated to fill the gap. However, the relocated people pretended to be locals, which was not to say that they had an accent, etc.

The most important thing is that in the imperial city, some welfare benefits are different. Especially with the household registration system of the Ming Dynasty, household registration also represents occupation, etc. If these are messed up, there will naturally be big problems.

Zhu Yunhuan answered without hesitation, "The Ministry of Revenue will handle this matter, and the officials will assist. The main thing is to check the Yellow Book, and at the same time check the land and property of the emperor's hometown. We must not be careless."

In Zhu Yunhuan's mind, he did not think that restricting household registration was the best solution.

But there will still be many rural households hundreds of years later, let alone now.

Especially at this stage, production needs to be restored. In an agricultural civilization society, it is naturally necessary to ensure sufficient food output. This is the largest source of fiscal revenue for a country and of course needs more attention.

Moreover, if they are not guided, many people may lose interest in giving birth, which is not appropriate.

All he can do is to slightly relax some household registrations, but he cannot simply kill them all with one blow.

Since Zhu Yunhuan, the crown prince, had said so, Yu Xin naturally knew what to do. This time he came to Wenhua Palace just to do these things well, which was also one of his duties.

"You are a thoughtful benefactor." Zhu Yunhuan said to Xia Yuanji with a smile, "The only bad thing is that you don't have much courage and are always hesitant to act."

Xia Yuanji immediately said, "Your Highness, the Minister is generous and righteous, and has a method for managing his family. He has always been true to his character, and has strict discipline and good conduct. He is a role model for all officials."

Zhu Yunxun immediately laughed and joked, "It means that I know that you two have a personal relationship and a sense of gratitude, and that you work diligently and don't form cliques. If I were more suspicious, I might think that you two have joined forces."

Yu Xin said respectfully, "Your Highness, I was originally a commoner, but Your Majesty selected me and gave me a name. I dare not fail Your Majesty's trust. I am stupid, so I can only work diligently and abide by my duties."

This can be regarded as Yu Xin's character. This is his way of being an official and a person.

Yu Xin immediately became serious and said, "Your Majesty, in the third year of Hongwu, the court urgently needed military grain in the border areas. The government recruited merchants to transport grain in exchange for salt permits. The salt was transported and sold in designated areas with the permits, which was called Kaizhong. In the fourth year, the rules for salt were formulated. The exchange amount of grain permits was determined based on factors such as the distance of the road, the amount of grain transported, and whether the merchants could make a profit."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly. This was the court's practice and it was still being continued.

This was also to save some costs. Grain merchants sent grain to the border in exchange for salt permits, which greatly reduced the pressure and burden on the court. This Kaizhong Law not only reduced the court's transportation costs, but also ensured that the border guards had no shortage of grain.

As for the merchants, they also make money. Yu Xin became serious and said, "Your Highness, merchants transport grain to the border, and then issue vouchers, and pay salt according to the vouchers. This is a good thing, but now it seems that some royal nobles, officials, and powerful people ask for salt vouchers and resell them to salt merchants. Your Highness, if this continues, not only will the court's finances suffer, but the border troops will also have difficulty getting food!"

Zhu Yunhuan's face instantly darkened. The previous method of opening the border was for merchants to deliver grain to the nearest garrison and then receive salt permits.

But now, some people saw the profit and wanted to take the salt permits directly. They didn't care whether the grain was transported to the border or not. They took the salt permits and sold them to salt merchants, which made a lot of money.

This not only destroyed the Ming Dynasty's finances, but also meant that the military households at the border could not get enough food!

Daoyan couldn't help but look at Yu Xin, then at Xia Yuanji.

This Minister of Revenue is really not afraid of offending people. If you don't know, you might think he is preparing to start a big case. You have to know that the current emperor is very intolerant of corruption and has always used severe punishments.

The crown prince was not much better, seemingly a little more lenient than the emperor. But when corrupt officials fell into the hands of the crown prince, there was actually no good outcome, except that they were spared from being skinned and stuffed with straw.

Zhu Yunhuan took note of this matter and said seriously, "I understand. Please don't make this public for now."

Yu Xin naturally understood, that is to say, don't submit a memorial now, let alone start impeachment in the court. Don't act rashly for the time being, there is definitely no problem with this, so as not to miss the grandson's plan.

However, everyone present understood that with Yu Xin's personality, if the Crown Prince did not make any move for a long time, then even if it angered His Royal Highness, he would report it directly in the court and lift the lid on the matter.

Seeing that Zhu Yunhuan was obviously unhappy, Xia Yuanji and Daoyan also started to get nervous. They knew that a storm was about to come.

This crown prince may not be particularly harsh on other things, but he will absolutely not tolerate corrupt officials, abuse of power for personal gain, and so on.

Zhu Yunhuan spoke directly to Zhang Fusheng, "Call Zhu Zhong and Jiang Li, and ask them to come over immediately!"

Xia Yuanji and Xia Yuanji looked at each other. Their guess was right. The Crown Prince really would not tolerate it at all. He directly summoned the two managers of Jinyiwei and Beizhenfusi.

They are the eyes and ears of the Emperor and the Crown Prince. It is definitely not easy to hide some things from them in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Zhong and Jiang Li hurried to Wenhua Hall, and they didn't know what happened. But they knew that since the Crown Prince summoned them, something big must have happened, especially since the heads of the two major spy agencies were summoned at the same time, which meant something unusual.

Zhu Yunhuan said without further ado, "Go and find out for me where the salt permits have gone! Find out for me which dignitaries and royal family members dared to tamper with Kaizhong France!"

Even though they had seen many storms, Zhu Zhong and Jiang Li's faces changed drastically at this moment. Things were more difficult to handle than they had imagined. This matter could be said to have a ripple effect.

Since it involves "salt", it is definitely not a small matter, not to mention that it involves the Kaizhong method of delivering food to the border garrisons.

This would definitely offend people, but for Zhu Zhong and Jiang Li, there was actually nothing to worry about. They were the emperor's lackeys and minions, and their existence was to offend some people.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Once it's confirmed, immediately arrest the person and report to me immediately without delay!"

Zhu Zhong and Jiang Li understood even more clearly that the Crown Prince attached great importance to this matter, and they must give a satisfactory answer in the next period of time.

Xia Yuanji and Daoyan could not help but start to worry. Whether it was the Jinyiwei or the Northern Pacification Division, they were not good people. They were the kind of people who could cause waves even without wind.

Now with the order from the Crown Prince, these people might start a big case. They might use their expertise in framing and slandering others, etc. There are precedents for this, and it is definitely not an injustice against these imperial guards.

However, at this time, Daoyan and Xia Yuanji thought it would be wiser not to say anything more, as the Crown Prince was angry. If the situation began to escalate or get out of control, they would have to advise him in time, which was also their way of being a minister.

The current court still has a lot of things to do, and it also needs a relatively stable political situation, and it is not suitable for too much disturbance.

Zhu Yunhuan was indeed very angry, because the problem of official administration seemed to be an unsolvable problem, and some things were difficult to solve in any dynasty.

During the Song Dynasty, officials were given extremely high salaries, but this still failed to curb the greed of some officials. For some people, this is considered insatiable.

Although the Ming Dynasty was extremely strict with corrupt officials, there were still some officials who chose to take risks. Perhaps they felt that being an official meant they should have power and money, otherwise their ten years of hard study would be a waste.

Although he felt a headache, Zhu Yunhuan also understood that some things had to be dealt with next, otherwise the Kaizhong method, which looked very good, would be ruined because of these rats.

The royal family, the powerful, the officials, the local tyrants, the salt merchants, etc., these people are likely to collude with each other, and this is not something that can be accomplished by a group alone.

Originally he wanted a smooth transition and thought he would have a relatively stable life for the next one or two years, but those people didn't even give Zhu Yunhuan a chance to have a stable life!

The angry Zhu Yunhuan quickly adjusted his mood and continued to focus on reviewing memorials. Even though some things really made him very unhappy, it did not mean that he could delay other important matters, and things still needed to be dealt with.

There were so many political affairs in the Ming Dynasty that Zhu Yunhuan had no choice but to be lazy at this time. He had to work hard to solve some problems when it was time to do them.

At this time, it was not only Zhu Yunhuan who seemed extremely concerned. Daoyan and Xia Yuanji were also handling their official duties very seriously. They absolutely could not provoke the Crown Prince at this time.

After returning to the East Palace after a busy day, Zhu Yunhuan's originally irritable mood stabilized when he saw Xu Miaojin taking a slow walk.

This may be the importance of family, which can provide people with some comfort and relaxation when they are a little tired.

"Your Highness, I see that the flowers in the courtyard are in bloom." Xu Miaojin said with a smile as beautiful as a flower, "The weather has been good since the beginning of the year, so I think it should be a good year."

Zhu Yunxun smiled and nodded, "The situation in Jiangnan and other places is not bad, it will definitely be a good year!" (End of this chapter)