Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Talk to Old Zhu, play with his fat son, and briefly talk about this trip back home. This is what Zhu Yunhuan and Xu Miaojin need to do after returning to Yingtian Prefecture.

The return of the Crown Prince to the capital was considered by many to be a "stabilization of the military's morale." Even though everyone knew that given the current situation, it was unlikely that anything unexpected would happen.

But in the final analysis, the Crown Prince is not in Yingtian Prefecture, which means that many people are unsure. If he is in Yingtian Prefecture, a lot of risks can be reduced.

He returned to Beijing on the first day and went to court early on the second day. This was Zhu Yunhu's diligent attitude towards state affairs, and there was nothing wrong with him.

All the civil and military officials have become numb. Whether it is Emperor Hongwu or the Crown Prince, both of them are extremely diligent in their work, and everyone is accustomed to it.

At most, no one expected that the Crown Prince would come directly to court without a day's rest, and no one expected that the Emperor would disappear as soon as the Crown Prince returned to Beijing to attend court. It was so decisive that people were a little at a loss.

The dragon throne was still empty, but it didn't matter. The emperor and the crown prince took turns to attend court, and the officials were not at a loss. There was no estrangement between the two, and there was no disagreement in political views.

Zhu Yunhuan saw that it was almost done, and took the initiative to say, "Your Majesty's 70th birthday is a major event for the court. My dear ministers, please make preparations. Your Majesty's birthday cannot be neglected."

Naturally, all the civil and military officials knew it well. Not to mention that this was a birthday celebration, even if it was an ordinary birthday, they could not be careless. This was the real "Christmas" and there were naturally many things that needed to be done.

Chen Di took the initiative to come out and said, "Your Highness, I think that the Ministry of Rites should work with the Taichang Temple and Guanglu Temple to plan your Majesty's birthday banquet."

Needless to say, the Ministry of Rites consists of four departments: the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Shrines, the Ministry of Food, and the Ministry of Hosts and Guests, which naturally include rituals, music, etc.

The Taichang Temple is in charge of ancestral temple rituals, and the Guanglu Temple is in charge of sacrifices, court meetings, and banquets with wine and food. These are all within their scope of responsibilities.

Zhu Yunhuan nodded in affirmation, "That's right. The Ministry of Rites is in charge of this matter, and all government offices must remember to assist in this matter. If anyone dares to neglect it, I will definitely punish him severely. Hello, Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, please send all matters to my desk."

Zhu Yunhuan planned to handle this matter personally, and no one thought there was anything wrong with it. This was because the emperor's birthday was a big event, and it was normal for the crown prince to want to show his filial piety.

Even though many things are handled by the officials below, the decision is still made by the Crown Prince, and the greatest credit should naturally be attributed to the Crown Prince.

No one thinks there is anything wrong with this. This is how things should be done, and it is something that everyone is happy about.

Zhu Yunhuan then spoke again, "Let the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory check the date. I have many feelings when I return to my hometown to worship my ancestors. When the date is right, I will lead my brothers and sisters to defeat my father and mother."

Many civil and military officials looked at each other, their hearts naturally beating wildly. This matter was really too sensitive, but it was really difficult to say anything.

Now is not the death anniversary of the late Crown Prince and the late Crown Princess, but the Crown Prince suddenly wants to pay homage at this time. This matter seems to be quite sensitive.

Moreover, there are many rumors in the court and the country. At this time, the Crown Prince going to pay homage to the late Crown Prince and the late Crown Princess is almost equivalent to announcing it to the world, which is also to make everything clear.

Chang Sheng was observing the queue of civil servants with his eyes. Guo Ying, Geng Bingwen and others were also observing them, as if they were ready to beat them up if they disagreed with them.

Most of the civil officials at this time were also watching their noses and their hearts, and there were no fools who could stand in the court. Now some things are extremely obvious, so don't be smart at this time.

Seeing that no one had any objections and seemed to agree or even support it, Zhu Yunhuan just smiled. This matter had been laid out in the early stages, so it would be a natural thing to do.

After all, it was Old Zhu who gave enough support, so now it became very simple for Zhu Yunhuan to do anything he wanted.

After the court session ended and Zhu Yunhuan returned to Wenhua Hall, he saw the memorials on the desk and asked, "Didn't your grandfather approve a lot of memorials these days? How come there are still so many memorials?"

Daoyan quickly replied, "Your Highness, most of the matters His Majesty approved a few days ago were urgent matters. Most of the less urgent matters were left behind to be dealt with after Your Highness returns to the capital."

It seems to make a lot of sense. After the prime minister is no longer in office, the emperor directly takes charge of the six ministries. That naturally means that he will be in charge of all the big and small things in the world, so there will naturally be no shortage of things to do.

It is impossible to be lazy because there are too many things to do. Unless you delegate power, it is impossible to have peace and quiet.

From then on, the emperor no longer held court early in the morning, which was basically impossible in the Ming Dynasty. At least during the time of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunhuan, don't expect such a thing to happen.

Daoyan also continued, "There are also matters concerning the Maritime Customs and the maritime ban. Although there are many memorials, most of them were only glanced at by His Majesty, and the rest were left for His Majesty to deal with."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and nodded, saying with emotion, "Grandfather really loves me. He usually doesn't give me any obstacles when I lead the work."

Daoyan naturally understood this truth. Although he had long known that the emperor was willing to give up power and his support for the crown prince was unprecedented, he could not help but sigh sometimes when he was working beside the crown prince.

The emperor was naturally a great leader, but the attitude of such a great leader towards the crown prince was simply unimaginable.

Daoyan continued to add, "Except for matters concerning the Maritime Customs and the maritime ban, and other important border issues, most of the reports submitted by Your Majesty to the Five Military Commandery were kept by His Majesty and not sent out."

This is not surprising, as rumors outside are that the first thing Zhu Yunhuan, the crown prince, took control of was the Five Military Commandery, and that the Huaixi nobles were the crown prince's right-hand men.

Therefore, the emperor has not been very involved in the affairs of the Five Military Commandery in recent years, and has let the crown prince deal with all matters, big or small. It is understandable that Zhu Yuanzhang did not interfere in the affairs of the Five Military Commandery, because it represents military power.

If the founding emperor took the military power in his hands, the crown prince would naturally have no hope of sitting firmly on the throne. The Five Military Commandery was too sensitive, and the emperor did not intend to give anyone a reason to talk.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at the memorial and smiled, "After all, I'm back in Beijing, so naturally there will be a lot of things to do."

Chang Sheng rushed to the Wenhua Palace with a beaming face and said, "Your Highness, there has been no change in the Five Military Commandery in recent days. After His Highness Prince Qin and others returned to the vassal state a few days ago, the commanders of the guard posts of the princes of each vassal state were replaced."

Zhu Yunxun laughed, "You are a little hasty in this matter. The imperial uncles are all pillars of the court. How can you do this?"

Chang Sheng immediately put on a shameless face and looked like he was admitting his guilt, "Your Highness, I know my crime!" Someone had to take the blame, and Chang Sheng and his people were a good choice. Zhu Yunhuan, the crown prince, still needed some reputation, and some superficial work still needed to be done.

Many people could see that Zhu Yunhuan was planning to "reduce the power of the princes", and he had already begun to reduce the military power in the hands of those princes to a greater or lesser extent, basically intending to completely take away the three guards of the princes.

Chang Sheng and others did a good job. They just went and replaced the commanders of the three guards of the vassal king and other officers. That would be enough.

This was not a direct reduction of the feudal system. The food and supplies, military pay and salaries of the so-called three guards of the feudal lords were all allocated by the imperial court. The appointment and dismissal of military officers were also basically the responsibility of the imperial court.

The three guards of the princes have never been their private soldiers; they are the troops of the imperial court. Everyone is aware of this, and they all understand that the imperial court will sooner or later take back the military power.

It is normal to replace the senior officers of the three guards in the hands of several important princes this time. After all, it is to better control the military power.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Daoyan and said, "Have someone prepare some rewards for each royal palace. This year's assessment, most of the royal family members have excellent results."

Zhu Yunhuan was very good at giving a good reward after a stick was hit. The civil and military officials were accustomed to it and felt that it was all natural.

Basically, the three guards of the vassal king are taken away in a relatively gentle manner, and at this time some compensation and rewards are given. This smooth little combo seems to be very meaningful.

But if you think about it more carefully, the so-called clan assessment and so on, has once again demonstrated its power at this time. This thing mostly depends on the emperor's wishes.

For many people, when the method of evaluating royal family members was first formulated, many people were able to guess the reason and did not find it surprising.

It is simply that it is very easy for members of the royal family to pass the test, but if they want to get rewards, etc., that depends on the emperor's wishes.

Zhu Yunhuan flipped open the memorial and asked, "Have Chen Xuan and Yan Zhenzhi discussed anything? As for the grain transport, they still haven't come up with a plan?"

Yan Zhenzhi was the Minister of Works, and he was also very good at organizing large projects. If the court wanted to dredge the canal, etc., it would naturally require the efforts of this Minister of Works.

Chen Xuan is the current commander-in-chief of the Grand Canal. According to the Ming Dynasty's regulations, this former deputy governor is now a "wartime commander" and has real power in his hands, although this is just his responsibility for dredging the canal and so on.

That should not be underestimated. Some of the founding heroes in the past actually did a lot of work in dredging and digging canals. After all, this also required maintaining order and organizing manpower.

Daoyan immediately said, "Your Highness, Minister Yan and General Chen have discussed a lot before. I have listened to some of their discussions. Although the two adults have some differences, they are generally in agreement."

Hearing this, Zhu Yunhuan was very satisfied, "That's good, if they can reach a consensus, this matter is basically settled."

Daoyan also thought so in his heart. Whether it was Chen Xuan or Yan Zhenzhi, both of them held important positions and had experience in organizing large projects or dredging canals. This was naturally worth trusting.

Now that they have reached an agreement, they just need to wait for the arrival of manpower and money, and such a major project can officially start.

This is naturally a big deal. In the final analysis, it means starting construction earlier and benefiting the people earlier.

If it can be finalized sooner, many people can feel at ease sooner.

Many people understand that this grandson of the emperor likes to mess around. However, once the dredging of the Grand Canal begins, it will inevitably require a lot of manpower, financial resources, etc.

Even though the Ming Dynasty is now relatively strong, it will not be able to do anything stupid at that time.

Especially when it comes to wars, the imperial court will probably just suppress rebellions at most, and it is unlikely to initiate large-scale wars against other countries.

This is a big deal for many people. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were still constant wars. It is time to take a break.

There are still a lot of things to do, even too many to count, but Zhu Yunhuan still needs to get down to work quickly.

Fortunately, he was the one who handled many things in the past, so now there is no need for any adjustments and he can just start dealing with them directly. The ideas are somewhat continuous and the policies are consistent, so there is nothing to worry about.

Zhu Yunhuan was not in a hurry to summon Chen Xuan or Yan Zhenzhi immediately because he had other things to do which seemed more urgent.

Also because of the matter of dredging the canal, it seemed that Zhu Yunhuan only needed to discuss it with these two parties, but that was just a superficial phenomenon. He also needed to summon some other ministers to discuss such a major matter.

At least the Ministry of Revenue and other government offices cannot be excluded. How much silver the Ministry of Revenue can allocate and so on are all big matters, and they will not let Chen Xuan and Yan Zhen ask for so much.

There is only so much money in the national treasury. If it were all used to dredge the canal, it would not work. At that time, there would definitely be some disputes.

Zhu Yunhuan was well aware of this and did not think there was anything wrong with it. He just needed to get used to these things and come up with a solution that everyone could accept.

The most important thing, of course, is that the dredging of the canal must not be delayed. These are the most essential and important things. They are related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and they are related to the country and the people of the Ming Dynasty.

When dealing with such a major event, we naturally need to be more cautious. No one can find fault with being more cautious.

Calling people from the Imperial Observatory and performing sacrifices and other things are all big matters, and they need to be taken seriously, especially since we are in a hurry now, so we need to pay more attention to these things.

Fortunately, some things can be handled more flexibly, and some people can understand the emperor and the crown prince's intentions, and he doesn't even need to give any hints.

So it is definitely a coincidence that the auspicious day is suitable for worship three days later.

This is naturally a good thing. It really doesn't delay Zhu Yunhuan's major event at all. It seems that everyone is united as one and is constantly creating conditions! (End of this chapter)