Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 265 Peace of mind
Misusing public resources for personal gain. Some of what Zhu Yunhuan is doing now can indeed be considered as misusing public resources for personal gain.

After all, most of the costs and risks of this voyage were borne by the imperial court. To be honest, this was a pioneering act based on the will of the rulers.

But Zhu Yunhuan had no psychological burden at all, he really did it, and he would continue to do so in the future. In the final analysis, some behaviors cannot be completely market-driven at this stage.

Thinking in this way, Zhu Yunhuan felt at ease. He still had to continue doing what he should do, and the opening of maritime trade needed to be guided by the court and policies.

After the new day began, Zhu Yunhuan presided over the morning court and called the ministers to the Wenhua Hall. Naturally, there were some serious matters to discuss.

Zhu Yunhuan got straight to the point and asked, "What do you think of Bao Zhao?"

Other ministers began to take the matter seriously. Now, among the six ministers of the Ming Dynasty, only the Minister of Justice was missing. Now was the time to fill this vacancy.

Yan Zhenzhi spoke first, "Your Highness, I think Minister Bao is known for his integrity and frugality, and is indeed a good official."

Zhu Yunhuan did not agree and said directly, "Known for his frugality? He has good personal ethics, which is a good thing. But can he manage the Ministry of Justice just by improving his moral character?"

At this point, the others didn't know how to respond. After all, in this era, being an official sometimes required having a good reputation, and this was definitely a very good plus point.

Yu Xin pondered for a moment and said, "Your Highness, I think that Minister Bao has served as the Councillor of Beiping Provincial Government, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. He has been diligent and prudent in his duties and has done nothing wrong."

Zhu Yunhuan was basically satisfied with this answer. Officials with good reputation and good cultivation are naturally very good. However, they also need ability, which is the most important thing in Zhu Yunhuan's eyes.

There may be debates over whether to use a capable corrupt official or an honest mediocre official. But in Zhu Yunhuan's case, it was difficult for incompetent officials to be reused.

Not making mistakes while in office does not mean that you have done nothing. Your abilities may not be particularly outstanding, but being able to perform your duties conscientiously and do your job well is also a skill.

It is more than enough to maintain the status quo, and this is also a choice worthy of recognition. In the absence of a better choice, it is still possible to make a transition.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at the ministers and asked, "Do you think there is a better candidate?"

The five ministers were silent one by one, perhaps in their hearts they did not think that Bao Zhao was the best choice.

But now they are also very smart and do not want to disgust His Royal Highness the Crown Prince because of the selection of the Minister of Justice.

There is no way. The Crown Prince obviously prefers Bao Zhao to be the new Minister of Justice.

Although Bao Zhao's abilities were not outstanding, he was also an official who had made some achievements. He had a good background, resume, and reputation, so it was difficult to find reasons to refute him.

If there is one thing that some people are dissatisfied with, it may be that Bao Zhao is from Fushan County, Pingyang Prefecture, which is from Shanxi!

Since they knew that this person was from Shanxi, the ministers dared not refute him.

The Emperor and the Crown Prince had previously been dissatisfied with the fact that the six ministers were all from the south. This year, a formal examination with separate rankings for the north and the south was just implemented, and now they are opposing the appointment of northerners as ministers.

If he really did so, he would be at odds with the emperor and the grandson, and that would be asking for trouble. After all, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the emperor and the grandson intended to increase the number of officials in the north.

This is not only reflected in the fact that the examinations are divided into north and south lists. In addition to increasing the base number of officials from the north, there is also a need for more northern senior officials in the court.

Seeing that no one was talking, Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "So, Bao Zhao's promotion to the Minister of Justice, do you think this is a suitable choice?"

The five ministers did not refute. The Crown Prince had already chosen the person. Now they were pretending to gather everyone to discuss the matter. It seemed to be a show of respect, but it was completely unnecessary.

Perhaps this was the Crown Prince's deliberate attempt to establish his authority. He wanted to see if these five ministers had any other intentions and deliberately demonstrate his control over the court.

Zhu Yunhuan did have such an idea. "In this case, you should submit a memorial and see what His Majesty means."

This seemed to be a superfluous matter. It would be fine if other people didn't know the situation, but these ministers knew something about it. Now submitting the memorial directly to the crown prince's hands.

But you still need to do some surface work. Being too direct and straightforward is not necessarily a good thing.

Now that the serious matters have been discussed, the ministers can return to their offices as they still have a lot of official business to deal with.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Daoyan and asked with a smile, "Master, there are no vacancies for the six ministers right now. Do you think this is a good idea?"

Daoyan quickly replied, "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, the fact that there are no vacancies in the six ministries is a sign of a smooth political situation."

There seems to be nothing wrong with this. If there are a lot of vacancies in the six ministries, it means that the government is unstable. If there are a lot of vacancies in a certain department, it may reflect that a major case has occurred in some aspects.

At the beginning of the founding of the country, the six ministries were often without their ministers, and the positions of left and right vice ministers were occasionally vacant. This was not suitable for the current political situation.

However, Daoyan still said, "Your Highness, among the six ministers, all are capable ministers selected by Your Majesty."

Zhu Yunhuan asked with a smile, "Why? Do you want me to demote a few more people?"

According to some conventions, the first thing a new emperor does when he ascends the throne is to replace a large number of his confidants so that he can better control the government.

Sometimes, for the sake of the new emperor, the previous emperor would deliberately demote a few important ministers and leave them to the new emperor for his favor.

But the current Ming Dynasty does not seem to need to do so, because the current ministers seem to have been promoted by Zhu. However, some people are also considered to be the so-called Taisun Party.

Daoyan didn't know how to answer for a moment, because some "conventions" were really not applicable in the current Ming Dynasty. Doing so would seem a bit unnecessary and embarrassing.

If we include Bao Zhao, the Minister of Justice who is about to take office, the six ministers were naturally promoted by Zhu Yuanzhang. There is nothing to say about this.

However, these six ministers were actually replaced after the crown prince was enthroned, and many of them were even arranged according to the crown prince's wishes.

This kind of situation is more direct and clear in the Five Military Commandery. The people in charge of the so-called Five Military Commandery now basically have a very special relationship with the crown prince, and they are all replaced by the crown prince. In terms of control ability, the Five Military Commandery is more direct. After all, since the crown prince was enthroned, the first thing he did was to take charge of the army first and then the government.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said to Daoyan, "Okay, you help me draft the decree first, and it will be announced in two days."

Old Zhu came with the fat baby in his arms, "We heard that you summoned all the ministers to discuss matters. Is there something important going on?"

"I still think Bao Zhao is better as the Minister of Justice." Zhu Yunhuan said, "Use him first. If there is another suitable one in the future, we can consider changing him then."

Old Zhu thought for a moment and said, "You can do whatever you want with this matter. If Bao Zhao is appointed as the Minister of Justice, I think it will be difficult for him to achieve great success, but the Ministry of Justice will not make any mistakes."

Zhang Fusheng was very perceptive and immediately started to coax Zhu Wenyao. This kid likes noise and likes to be teased. If he really stayed there holding him, he would start to make a fuss.

Therefore, in order to give the emperor and the crown prince a chance to speak, the people in Wenhua Palace have to work hard. Only when the little prince is happy will he not make a fuss about leaving.

"I looked at some fields and household registrations earlier, and overall they have increased somewhat." Zhu Yunhuan said happily, "The population and fields of our Ming Dynasty are increasing, which is a good thing."

Old Zhu casually asked, "How are the wealthy families who moved from Jiangnan doing?"

Zhu Yunhuan said with great pride, "Now some noble families, as well as the Jinyiwei and the Northern Pacification Office, have become even more infamous in many places in Jiangnan."

Old Zhu smiled and said, "It's only natural that they have a bad reputation. If these people are all concerned about their reputation, we should be worried. There will always be some things that offend people, and they should do them."

Zhu Yunhuan naturally understood this truth. "Nowadays, some people have said something, either openly or secretly, that I like to use Jinyiwei and I am not a wise ruler."

Daoyan and the others lowered their heads and pretended not to hear. The Crown Prince often said some frightening things without restraint. The Emperor was the same, and he did not hide anything about some seemingly sensitive topics.

It would be fine if the emperor and the grandson said so, that was their business. But everyone knew that only those two could bring it up, and if anyone else brought it up it would easily cause trouble.

When working in the palace, sometimes you just have to listen to what you should listen to and not listen to what you shouldn't listen to. It is also necessary to be selectively deaf and blind.

Old Zhu was even more proud, "You are not like your father in this respect. He is more cunning than you. You just don't care about your reputation. It would be great if you could learn from your father! Or maybe I didn't teach you well when you were young. You are a little impatient now."

Then Old Zhu looked at Zhu Wenyao expectantly, "Wenyao, you should learn from me! In the future, don't learn from your father, learn from your grandfather! If you can get things done and have a good reputation, this is true knowledge and a wise ruler!"

Zhu Biao was the type of person who wanted everything. He wanted some people to get things done, but he also had to take his reputation into consideration, so he appeared to be perfect.

Zhu Yunxun couldn't help but complain, "Wen Yao has to have a good reputation, so I will have to take the blame for him in the future."

Old Zhu said nonchalantly, "I am a dictator, and you are not much better. The first two emperors of the Ming Dynasty were overbearing, but when Wen Yao becomes emperor, he should be more lenient and take it easy."

In fact, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's original idea, he should have been more lenient when his eldest son became emperor. After all, it was not appropriate to use harsh punishments in troubled times.

But forget it now. Zhu Yunhuan's temperament is definitely more lenient than that of Old Zhu, but that is also limited.

Zhu Yunhuan naturally understood what Old Zhu meant. "Grandfather, don't worry. I won't make too much trouble. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in such a hurry to find a minister of the Ministry of Justice."

"This time we are moving the wealthy families to Yingtian Prefecture. You should make sure they are properly settled." Old Zhu reminded, "These people have some roots. If we don't settle them properly after they are moved here, it will be easy for trouble to arise."

Zhu Yunhuan naturally agreed with this statement. The migration of people in the Ming Dynasty was ongoing, but the focus had always been different.

At the beginning of the founding of the country, there was a large-scale migration, mostly to move people from densely populated areas to remote areas, in order to quickly restore productivity.

Now, some wealthy families in the world have begun to be relocated to Fengyang or Yingtian Prefecture, naturally for the sake of stability. Letting some wealthy families who are deeply rooted in the local area come to the capital or the imperial city is to prevent these people from occupying one side.

"I know about this. I have to be careful about these people slipping back." Zhu Yunxun said with a smile, "Speaking of which, the Jinyiwei are very busy now, keeping an eye on those rich families and officials."

There are too many southern civil servants in the court. If they are not suppressed a little, their voices will get louder and louder. Moreover, their relationship with the nobles is getting closer and closer, which cannot be stopped.

This is the fact. Perhaps at the beginning, civil servants and nobles seemed to be clearly distinguished.

But now that the country has been founded for 30 years, the nobles are now the second and third generations, and they have become more prominent. So sometimes, it is inevitable that they have some dealings with some powerful people.

Zhu Wenyao suddenly pointed at Zhu Yunxun, "Ah!"

Zhu Yunhuan immediately became interested and clapped his hands, "Why? Are you thinking about your father?"

Zhu Wenyao immediately turned around and lay on Old Zhu's shoulder. This kid still didn't want to be hugged by his biological father Zhu Yunhuan.

"I want that thing in your hand!" Seeing Zhu Wenyao turn around and reach out to Zhu Yunhuan, Old Zhu said with a smile, "My great-grandson likes the memorial and thinks it's beautiful."

Zhu Yunhuan quickly found an empty memorial and said, "After all, he is my son. He can help me with things in the future. Take it back first and see if you can understand it!"

Zhu Wenyao happily held the memorial, not caring whether it was empty or not. He just felt happy holding it in his hand.

Old Zhu happily hugged Zhu Wenyao and left. He was in a very good mood during this period. In the final analysis, after having Zhu Wenyao, Old Zhu had more pursuits and expectations.

The reason why Old Zhu can now take care of the baby with peace of mind is naturally that Zhu Yunhuan's work makes Old Zhu very relieved. His grandson naturally has some shortcomings, some of which make Old Zhu feel annoyed.

But no matter what, this is an emperor who can get things done and keep his country, so there is no need for Zhu Yuanzhang to continue to shoulder all the political affairs.

For Lao Zhu, being able to take care of his children safely and securely is naturally a kind of enjoyment and pleasure.

Seeing Old Zhu leaving with the baby, Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Let the Crown Princess go back to Prince Zhongshan's Palace. Xu Qin is a bit noisy."

Zhang Fusheng immediately went to pass on the order, seemingly asking the Crown Prince's Consort to discipline Xu Qin. But isn't this a kind of favor? Xu Qin, the future Duke of Wei, has always been looked after by the Crown Prince!
(End of this chapter)