Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 92: The Royal Grandson

Lao Zhu is a hardworking person. An iron man never feels tired, so he naturally thinks other people won’t feel tired either.

This is the case with Zhu Yunhuan now. He is no longer allowed to attend court, and he is no longer allowed to sit in the government office every day. This is what Zhu Yunhuan believes is giving him enough free time.

If he doesn't do something, it will definitely not work. He is already the crown prince and is mature. Of course, he needs to do more, so that he can take over the power earlier and sit firmly on the throne.

Zhu Yunhuan returned to Wenhua Hall and gave the order directly, "Summon Xu Guan, Zhan Hui, Zhao Mian, Yang Jing, and Ru Yan."

Zhang Fusheng immediately went to pass on the order, his heart pounding, because four of the people summoned this time were ministers.

Zhan Hui was the Minister of Personnel, Zhao Mian was the Minister of Revenue, Yang Jing was the Minister of Punishment, and Ru Rong was the Minister of War.

The six ministers were summoned at once, four of them, which made people doubt that the six ministers were not summoned, because the position of Minister of Rites was vacant. The same was true for the Minister of Works. After Shen Qi was dismissed, the position of Minister of Works was also vacant.

The four great ministers were suddenly summoned, so they naturally hurried to the Wenhua Palace.

Zhu Yunhuan flipped through the memorial in his hand and said to Xu Guan, "Just listen here and remember to write down what I say to the ministers."

Xu Guan naturally accepted the order. Since he was not a historian, he naturally did not record the memorials. Instead, he wrote down some key points for the crown prince to review later.

Zhan Hui's mood was the most complicated at the moment, because he always felt that the crown prince had a prejudice against him. Now that he saw that several other ministers were also summoned, his subconscious reaction was that something big was going to happen.

After several people greeted him, Zhu Yunhuan said, "In the 23rd year of Hongwu, Zhao Qing and Yang Qing exchanged positions. In the same year, Shen Xi also exchanged positions with Qin Kui, the Minister of Works. I think you all know that you are all important officials of the court and have the ability to support the country. It is not a good thing to stay in a department for a long time. You need to gain more experience and seek transfers so that you can have a long-term vision and see the overall situation."

The four great chancellors were stunned for a moment. There had been examples of several chancellors being swapped in the court before.

Although the Crown Prince's words sounded high-sounding, in fact everyone knew in their hearts that the Emperor was simply worried that a certain Shangshu would stay in one government office for too long and develop too many wings.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "It's just that it's not necessary for now. My dear ministers, please concentrate on your own duties and don't take on multiple duties."

At this moment, some people subconsciously looked at Zhan Hui. If it was just some promotions, it wouldn't matter, after all, some of them were just honorary titles.

But Zhan Hui was different. The Ministry of Personnel was the head of the Six Ministries, in charge of all civil servants in the country. He also served concurrently as the Censorate, which seemed a little too prominent and powerful.

Zhan Hui immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness, I am honored to be entrusted with such an important task by Your Majesty. I have always been respectful and diligent, and I dare not fail Your Majesty's trust. However, I am stupid and short-sighted, and I always feel that I am incapable of doing so. I hope Your Highness will show mercy and allow me to resign."

Want to retire? Want to quit?

This is impossible. Both Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunhuan are the kind of people who would squeeze the piss out of a toad if they catch one.

A man like Zhan Hui still has some talent and ability, how can he be allowed to leave the court so easily? A position like the Minister of Personnel is not something that can be done casually.

What's more, in the plans of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunhuan, Zhan Hui still has a lot of use.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Mr. Zhan, you worry too much. The court cannot do without you right now. Please give up your concurrent post as the Censorate. It is not appropriate for the Minister of Personnel to be in charge of the Censors."

It is somewhat unreasonable that he is in charge of the careers of civil servants and also in charge of the power of supervision.

Zhan Hui felt a little bitter, but still said, "I will obey your instructions."

Pointing at Xu Guan, Zhu Yunhuan asked, "The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the evaluation of civil servants. What do you think of Xu Guan?"

In the past, Zhan Hui had no idea about a sixth-rank official. It was just that Xu Guan's reputation as the top scholar was worth paying attention to. However, in the Hanlin Academy, there were too many top three candidates, and not every top scholar could become a minister.

But Zhan Hui immediately replied, "Your Highness, Xu Xiuzhuan is rigorous in his studies, pays attention to current affairs, and does not pursue superficial writing. He is a very filial person. Since he entered the government, he has been diligent and humble, and his evaluation by the Ministry of Personnel has always been excellent."

Zhan Hui spoke without hesitation, because he knew that this top scholar with six poems had been often summoned by the Crown Prince in recent days.

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly and said, "He is only studying in the Hanlin Academy and is only observing politics but not taking part in government affairs. How about this, transfer him to Yingtian Prefecture as an official and let him do some practical work."

At this time, Zhan Hui did not mention the normal procedures for promotion and transfer of officials, etc. The will of the Crown Prince was the most important.

Xu Guan was a little excited, "I thank your Highness for his kindness."

Zhu Yunhuan became serious and said, "You are a noble in the Hanlin Academy, which is also a good place to study. But you are very talented. Since you have learned the talent to help the world, you should serve the court. What does serving the court mean? In my opinion, helping the world is serving the court, protecting the country and the people is serving the court, and guarding a place and saving the people of a county are all the same. You must not let down the teachings of the saints and must not forget the grace of your majesty."

Xu Guan kowtowed solemnly, "I will obey your highness' instructions!"

"Without practical experience, you don't know the difficulties of people's livelihood; without experience of affairs, you don't know how to do things accurately." Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Many people can talk big, but it is not advisable to just talk about it on paper. Go to Yingtian Prefecture and learn how to handle practical affairs. Your Majesty does not like boastful people, and I don't like people who have high expectations but poor skills." People like Zhao Mian should not need to envy Xu Guan. The reason is naturally that they are second-rank ministers, and there is no need to envy the experience of the sixth-rank Shangshu in Yingtian Prefecture.

But on the other hand, they were also envious. Xu Guan was not even thirty years old yet, and it seemed that he was highly appreciated by the crown prince. His promotion would surely be fast in the future.

The most important thing is that they are young. The crown prince is young, and Xu Guan is also young, so there are endless possibilities in the future.

Zhan Hui felt even more sour in his heart. If the Crown Prince gave him a sincere lecture, he would immediately show his most flattering face. Unfortunately, up to now, the Crown Prince has been lukewarm to him, at most just doing his job.

Xu Guan’s transfer is nothing, it’s a small matter.

It was obviously too much to call the four great ministers for such a small matter as Zhu Yunhuan had other important matters to attend to.

Looking at Zhan Hui and others, Zhu Yunhuan said, "Although the imperial court suppressed the rebellion of Jianchang Guard in time, it was a long expedition and cost a lot of money. After thinking about it, it is also because the people are not loyal and the education is not enough. The imperial court must relocate at least 200,000 people."

Zhan Hui and others listened quietly. They had known about the relocation for a long time and had made preparations long ago.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "But this time we are in Yunnan and Guizhou, so among the people we relocate, firstly, there should not be too many old and young people, and secondly, there should be people from all nationalities."

Zhan Hui and others immediately praised loudly, "Your Highness is merciful!"

Zhu Yunhuan did not comment, but continued, "Each government office should do their job well. If there are any shirking or delays, I will never forgive them. Also, if I hear that there is any oppression or humiliation during the migration, I will not only punish those evil officials, but also you superiors will not let them off easily!"

Zhan Hui and the others were shocked. In the past, when people were relocated, there were bound to be some dirty things on the road. But the crown prince was serious and was very cautious about this relocation.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't care what Zhan Hui and the others thought. He just put forward his own request, "Except for those who are guilty of crimes, ordinary people are not allowed to demolish their homes without permission. It would be best if the whole family can be relocated. If there is a shortage of food and herbs supplied by various government offices, causing losses to the people, I will kill the person in charge first. Do you understand?"

Zhan Hui and others were trembling in their hearts. The Crown Prince called them over and really gave them a tough job.

Looking at Zhu Zhong, Zhu Yunxun said, "The Jinyiwei should not be idle either, and they should monitor together with the Metropolitan Censorate."

"Okay, that's it." Zhu Yunhuan said to himself, "Send the draft plan in three days, and discuss it in the court in seven days. The priority should be to ensure that the relocated people can live and work in peace and contentment, and to promote education. If the scholars have ambitions, they should be honored and awarded official positions. It can't all be the common people."

Zhan Hui and the others could only obey orders. In fact, they all knew that what the Crown Prince said and did was not in accordance with the rules. The Emperor had not issued an order yet, so how could the Crown Prince arrange such a big thing here?

But they were all used to it. When the Crown Prince was around, he would take care of everything, big or small. Now this Crown Prince was considered good, he just made some requests.

What's more, the Crown Prince also knows his limits in this matter, and ultimately the matter will have to be reported to the Emperor for approval.

Zhan Hui and others also planned to do so. Since the Crown Prince had made a request, they still had to seek the Emperor's opinion.

"Tomorrow, ask Brother Mu Chun to come over, and ask Duke Liang and Duke Ying to come over as well." Zhu Yunhuan said, "Duke Cao and Duke Wei should come over as well."

Zhang Fusheng naturally kept these things in mind and would go to announce the decree soon.

Zhu Yunhuan continued to look through the memorials, thinking carefully about the memorials that Old Zhu had given him yesterday, and thinking about how to handle some things.

He was busy until dinner time, and then, at Zhang Fusheng's reminder, he hurried to the Wuying Palace.

The palace was still quite large, but fortunately Zhu Yunhuan exercised regularly, so walking for a while was no big deal.

As soon as he saw Zhu Yunhuan, he couldn't hide the smile in his eyes, "You are really brave. You called four of the six ministers and assigned them tasks. Aren't you afraid of what outsiders will say?"

"Isn't it because of my grandfather's blessing that I am fearless?" Zhu Yunhuan stared at the food on the table and said, "Why is the food so light today?"

Lao Zhu smiled and said, "If you want to eat, have someone bring it to you."

Old Zhu smiled and praised him, saying, "You did a good job today. We relocated people to fill the areas with more people, but this is a last resort and it will disturb the people. I am glad that you have such a kind heart for the people."

Relocating the people is a last resort, but it has to be done.

Zhu Yunhuan said, "I just feel that since the people have been relocated, they should be taken care of more. In a few days I will go and ask for a reputation and ask for an imperial decree to exempt the relocated people from taxes. Then I will have to ask grandfather for approval."

Old Zhu immediately said, "That's right. When you go to court in a few days, you should go and plead for mercy and spread your name."

Old Zhu didn't say some things. For example, as soon as Zhu Yunhuan summoned the ministers, he arranged for people to publicize the fact that the crown prince was diligent in government and loved the people. His grandson was so kind, and everyone in the world had to know about it!
(End of this chapter)