Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 35: Stability and Concerns
The return of the princes to the capital was not a big deal. In most cases, the princes also needed to pay homage.

At most, according to the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang, the princes were not allowed to return to Beijing together, except in extremely special circumstances, such as when Empress Ma passed away, the princes returned to Beijing together to mourn.

This time it was a little different. The crown prince had passed away, and the princes also returned to the capital together.

Letting Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunhuan, two strong contenders for the position of Crown Prince, take turns to appear on the stage was also a test for them by Zhu.

As the founding emperor, Zhu had no doubts about his ability to control the country. But he was unsure about his descendants, especially the 14-year-old Zhu Yunwen and the 13-year-old Zhu Yunhuan.

The Qin Dynasty perished in the second generation, and the Sui Dynasty also perished in the second generation.

Although Zhao Kuangyin was crowned emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Guangyi seized the throne from his nephews. If Zhao Gou of the Southern Song Dynasty had not lost his offspring, the imperial lineage would not have returned to Zhao Kuangyin's branch.

All these are lessons from the past. We have conquered the country and now the situation seems stable.

But Zhu Yuanzhang did not dare to be careless. There were still too many things that needed to be dealt with, otherwise it would be difficult to stabilize the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yunhuan was quite satisfied with what he said. Compared with Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Yunhuan was more generous and courageous. Although he sometimes had some small thoughts, they were nothing in Zhu Yunwen's eyes.

Unconsciously, Old Zhu did get closer to Zhu Yunhuan. But now he is not only the grandfather of Zhu Yunhuan and Zhu Yunwen, he is also the emperor of Ming Dynasty. He now has to choose a son of heaven who can protect the country for Ming Dynasty.

After Zhu finished reviewing the memorial, he said to Zhu Yunwen, "Did you know that Yunwen has been busy these days?"

Zhu Yunhuan was a little surprised. "I am not idle either. It's already this time. It's strange that I can be idle. When my two sisters go out of the palace, they have to interact with the women of some noble families."

Old Zhu laughed and scolded, "You are so brave, you dare to admit all these things!"

"I can't deny it. The people in the palace are all arranged by my grandfather." Zhu Yunhuan didn't play tricks and said, "The people in front of my sister and me are all arranged by you. Don't you know what we said and who we met?"

Old Zhu said, "If you are really honest, don't get kicked out of the study room every now and then."

Zhu Yunhuan refused, "Sometimes I don't want people to leave, but sometimes I like quietness."

Old Zhu sighed, "When your father was alive, he probably taught you a lot."

Zhu Yunhuan felt that this misunderstanding was very deep. In his heart, Zhu Yunhuan had been hiding his incompetence before. But there was no way to explain this matter, so sometimes not speaking was regarded as tacit agreement.

This has some advantages. For example, Zhu Yunhuan's transformation is quite significant, so Zhu will not be too suspicious.

On the other hand, from an emotional point of view, Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite and most valued eldest son was Zhu Biao. If Zhu Biao liked Zhu Yunhuan, this would also be a consideration for Zhu Yuanzhang in choosing a crown prince.

"Your uncles are back. The second and third brothers may have some concerns." Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan and said with a smile, "The court will be in chaos by then."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "It won't get out of hand, as our grandfather is keeping an eye on it. Besides, even though my second uncle and third uncle have kept an eye on Yingtian Prefecture from time to time over the years, they just can't get their hands in, and few ministers will support them."

Old Zhu asked, "What about the nobles? Most of the princesses of your uncles were born in noble families. Your second uncle and third uncle also led troops and controlled some generals. They have some reputation in the army."

Zhu Yunhuan still had no sense of crisis and said, "The troops belong to the court, and the food and wages are also provided by the court. The princes cannot interfere in local politics, even if they were nobles before, they were controlled by the emperor's uncles. But in recent years, the troops have been taken back by the court, and there are checks and balances by the Five Military Commandery and the Ministry of War, so they still have to rely on the emperor's grandfather to control them."

Zhu Yunhuan continued to talk, saying, "Even if the emperor's uncles want to seize the throne, they know in their hearts that it is impossible. When my father was alive, they didn't dare to think about it. Now my father is gone, but I am still here!"

Old Zhu, who was smiling, immediately knocked on the table and said, "I haven't said I'll make you an official yet!"

It's no wonder that Zhu Yuanzhang was angry. Ever since Zhu Yunhuan expressed his desire to seize the throne, he always acted like "who else but me", as if the candidate for the crown prince had already been decided.

Old Zhu naturally would not be really angry about this, but he was also very helpless about Zhu Yunhuan's shamelessness and boldness.

This bastard is just like his father and brother. He thinks that certain positions are extremely important and they belong to them by right. He does not allow others to covet them. After a moment of silence, Old Zhu asked again, "If you become the emperor, what will happen to the north?"

The north naturally does not refer to the small Northern Yuan Dynasty court.

After Lan Yu's great victory at Buir Lake, the small Northern Yuan Dynasty had collapsed, the Northern Yuan emperor had been killed, and the Mongolian tribes were fighting and arguing for the position of Khan.

Lao Zhu was referring to the people's will.

It is said that many scholars and officials miss the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, and in fact, many ordinary people feel the same.

The Mongol Yuan Dynasty ruled for nearly a hundred years, which seemed to have far-reaching influence. However, looking back, the Southern Song Dynasty was only able to survive in a corner, and after the Jingkang Incident, it lost most of the land north of the Yangtze River. Looking further back, the Northern Song Dynasty failed to achieve great unification.

Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and the hidden dangers left behind by this child emperor were particularly great.

For nearly 500 years, many people in the north did not consider themselves Han Chinese. Even after the founding of the country, Zhu Yuanzhang had been changing customs and not allowing any foreign customs to exist in the Ming Dynasty, but it was still difficult to change some customs in a short time.

Not to mention the influence of four or five hundred years, even after a few decades or one or two generations, many people have already forgotten their roots and do not understand the significance of having the same roots and origins.

During the Mongolian period, people were divided into four classes. Even if they were all Han Chinese, they were divided into northern Han Chinese and southern Han Chinese.

In Zhu Yunhuan's view, one of Zhu's greatest achievements was to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. This was equivalent to rebuilding China. Even though many people in this era did not have a deep concept of nation, the orthodoxy of the Han people had slowly begun to give the people of the Ming Dynasty a deep concept.

If it weren't for Zhu, the rift between the north and the south might have been even bigger, and China might have become as divided as Europe.

Zhu Yunhuan was silent for a long time before he said, "It is natural to show kindness to the North when it is necessary and suppress when it is necessary. I also understand that it is not easy for the people to win over, and changing customs and habits cannot be done in a short time. It took the Han Dynasty a long time to make the people of the world win over, and it will take us a long time too."

Old Zhu was quite satisfied with this answer, but not particularly satisfied. "Tell me something more specific. You keep saying you want to be the emperor, but you can't do it without an idea!"

Zhu Yunhuan said, "People's livelihood. When people live a good life, they will naturally think highly of the Ming Dynasty."

Old Zhu said, "Some landlords and tyrants may not appreciate your kindness."

Zhu Yunhuan also understood this and said, "So we should kill those who should be killed and win over those who should be won over. It is definitely not a good idea to kill them all at once. We also need to strengthen the influence of the government and not do it like the Mongols did."

It won’t work if the imperial power doesn’t extend to the countryside.

But Zhu Yunhuan also understood that these things are easy to say, but not easy to do. Now many towns and villages are managed by landlords and clans, and even hundreds of years later, some places will still be like this.

Old Zhu nodded slightly, and was very satisfied with Zhu Yunhuan's statement and insights. A thirteen-year-old child would definitely not understand these things. To have such insights, it must have been taught by the eldest brother!

Zhu Yunhuan didn't know that Old Zhu had misunderstood him, and continued, "Another thing is that whether it's the civil officials in East Zhejiang or Jiangnan, there are too many southerners in the court. It's good for southerners to be northern officials, and I will definitely do the same in the future. Another thing is the imperial examination system. There are too many southerners who pass the exam, and too few northerners."

When it comes to this, Lao Zhu can't help but worry, "Southerners have always been good at reading, while the northerners are not very good at reading. Besides, after years of abuse by foreign barbarians, northerners can't be as good at reading as southerners!"

Zhu Yunhuan then tried to test the waters by saying, "In the same exam, northerners cannot beat southerners. But northerners are on the northern list, and southerners are on the southern list. We only look at the number of successful candidates. If seven or eight out of ten candidates on the list are all southerners, then we can't have any more of them?"

Old Zhu was stunned for a moment, then said, "If you come up with this idea, forget about competing for the position of Crown Prince. Those civil servants in the court will scold you to death, because you have disturbed their foundation!"

Zhu Yunhuan chuckled, "I don't care about that. Southerners are the people of the Ming Dynasty, and so are northerners. If the civil officials want to make trouble, they are not considering the overall situation. By the way, let's kill Zhan Hui first. What do you think, Grandfather?"

Old Zhu's face darkened immediately. "You must have inherited your father's narrow-mindedness! Even if you want to kill Zhan Hui, you can't do it now!"

(End of this chapter)