Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 607 My brother-in-law has changed! (Subscribe please!!)

Seeing that Zhu Biao looked more and more worried as he spoke, Ouyang Lun became curious. He also wanted to know what was going on that was so difficult for Zhu Biao to solve.

Beijing-Pingcheng Railway?

It shouldn't be this. After all, although building a railway is complicated, the construction of the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway is now on track and no problems have been heard of so far.

Perhaps it was the battle to conquer the Northern Yuan Dynasty?

This shouldn't be the case. If he had been so confused about this, he should have brought it up in Taile Palace just now. Given Zhu Biao's personality, he would not have waited until now.

Or is it because of the access problem to the marginal mountain villages mentioned by Wu Jinzhi?

Zhu Yuanzhang had already made the final decision on this matter, and Zhu Biao would not go against Zhu Yuanzhang's decision.

So what is going on?

With such confusion, Ouyang Lun took the memorial handed over by Zhu Biao and began to read it.

After a while, Ouyang Lun finished reading the contents of the memorial and of course understood the worries in Zhu Biao's heart at this moment.

Just as he analyzed, what Zhu Biao was worried about was not any of the concerns he had just had.

What was written on this memorial was nothing but a list of officials above the fifth rank in the court who had poor abilities, political achievements, and reputations, as well as information about these officials!

For example, a certain official only knows how to play with birds when on duty and never does any real work; another official washes his feet and gets massages every day and sleeps in brothels every night; another official is incompetent at everything and does all kinds of bad things!

But there are all kinds of relationships behind these officials. For example, the one who only knows how to play with birds is an old man who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world. He also blocked hidden arrows for Zhu Yuanzhang and was once Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted son. According to the official evaluation system, this person must be laid off, but just because of this relationship, no matter how badly this person does, the Ministry of Personnel never dares to give him an unqualified rating.

As a result, this person has been staying in an important position in the court.

The other officials also have various reasons and relationships. Touching these people would affect the entire body!

Zhu Biao is also very distressed now. Reducing staff is much more difficult than he imagined!

He had already told everyone about the downsizing of key officials. Not only did the retired emperor Zhu Yuanzhang know about it, but all the civil and military officials also knew about it. In addition, he had accepted an exclusive interview with the People's Daily of the Ming Dynasty regarding this matter. At that time, he thought the "exclusive interview" was very interesting, and it would be published in the newspaper, which would help let the people know what he was doing as the emperor. So he accepted the interview. As a result, after the interview was released, it really caused a great response!
The people strongly supported Zhu Biao's idea of ​​streamlining the number of court officials. At first, Zhu Biao was quite happy. After all, the people and the emperor were of the same mind, which was rare in history!
But after a long time, Zhu Biao felt the disadvantages of this. The people seemed to be more anxious than him and kept urging the outcome of this matter. Moreover, the voices of the people were getting louder and louder, which put Zhu Biao under a lot of pressure!
Now Zhu Biao can be said to have reached a situation where he is in a dilemma. The retired emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the civil and military officials, and the people of the Ming Dynasty are all looking at him! !
Faced with this situation, Zhu Biao could not find a good solution, and he could not talk to the retired emperor or other civil and military officials. After much thought, he could only place his hope on Ouyang Lun.

"Brother-in-law, you must help me this time no matter what!"

"You were the one who led the Beijing-Pinggu Railway project, my father was the one who led the expedition against the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and I was the one who led the streamlining of the court officials. Now both the Beijing-Pinggu Railway and the expedition against the Northern Yuan Dynasty are progressing steadily. Only I, the one who is most annoyed by the expedition against the Northern Yuan Dynasty!"

"This is also my main task since I became emperor. If I fail..."

Zhu Biao sighed softly.

Hearing this, Ouyang Lun naturally understood Zhu Biao's thoughts and asked directly: "Your Majesty, I want to ask, is the content of this memorial true?!"

"Of course it's true!" Zhu Biao nodded immediately. "I asked the Jinyiwei to investigate this. The information in it was very detailed. It even recorded what these officials ate, what they said, when they went to bed, and when they woke up. I asked someone to sort it out later, and that's how this memorial came about!"

"Emperor's Guard? Is Your Majesty able to fully command the Emperor's Guard now?" Ouyang Lun was a little surprised.

You must know that although Zhu Yuanzhang passed the throne to Zhu Biao, most of the military power and the dispatch of the Jinyiwei were still in Zhu Yuanzhang's own hands.

"It's not that I'm in complete command. It's just that my father is worried that it would be inconvenient for me to do something, so he let me use the Royal Guards. I probably only have half the dispatch power. The Royal Guards are Ji Gang, and he will only listen to my father in the end. But I can use them as long as I want."

Zhu Biao explained.

"That's great too. My father-in-law, the retired emperor, really loves Your Majesty like an old father!" Ouyang Lun couldn't help but sigh.

Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely suspicious, but his trust in Zhu Biao reached its peak. In fact, when Ouyang Lun first suggested that Zhu Biao inherit the throne, he didn't think Zhu Yuanzhang would agree. But he never expected that it didn't take much effort to get Zhu Yuanzhang to agree to the idea of ​​letting Zhu Biao inherit the throne.

To be honest, Ouyang Lun was a little envious of Zhu Biao. Not only was he the prince of an imperial family, but he had such a deep and trusting fatherly love. Zhu Biao was not only the strongest prince in history, but also the happiest prince in history!
"Brother-in-law? Brother-in-law!"

Zhu Biao saw Ouyang Lun in a trance and quickly called out.

"what!"

Ouyang Lun came back to his senses and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, you have learned a lot from the Emperor Retired in using the Imperial Guards to monitor all officials!"

"Forehead"

Zhu Biao was slightly stunned, and quickly said: "Brother-in-law, I don't really want to monitor the actions of all officials. If I really want to dismiss inactive and incompetent officials with sufficient reasons, I must have complete evidence!"

"Brother-in-law, do you think it's not good to monitor all officials in this way? Then I won't let the Jinyiwei monitor them anymore."

“No, no.” Ouyang Lun waved his hand. “Your Majesty, you misunderstood me. The safety of the country depends on the court officials, so they must be supervised. Anyway, it’s fine if you don’t supervise me. Of course, even if Your Majesty wants to supervise me, I have ways to avoid it.”

In the world I lived in in my previous life, I could see cameras every ten steps I took. It was much more serious than the Jinyiwei. But everyone was still living a good life, so the Jinyiwei's problems were nothing.

Of course, Ouyang Lun himself certainly doesn't want to be monitored.

Some people would say he has double standards. Of course he has double standards. Apart from some great principles, the first thing he has to do is to please himself! Not having double standards is what a saint would do. Anyway, he doesn't want to be a saint.

"That's right, how could I possibly send someone to monitor you, my brother-in-law?"

When Zhu Biao said this, his expression looked a little abnormal.

In fact, Zhu Biao was curious about what Ouyang Lun was doing all day, so he sent the Jinyiwei to keep an eye on Ouyang Lun. However, the people sent by the Jinyiwei couldn't even enter the clan house. Of course, some Jinyiwei spies were caught for tea, and when they came back, they refused to go to the clan house again no matter what.

So Zhu Biao knew nothing, and he also understood why his father Zhu Yuanzhang did not send the Jinyiwei to keep an eye on Ouyang Lun. It was not that he did not want to, but that he simply did not have the ability to do so!
Of course, Zhu Biao would not say these words.

Even if Zhu Biao didn't say it, Ouyang Lun knew it almost exactly by looking at Zhu Biao's expression and the information given to him by the Wolf Guards. Ouyang Lun naturally wouldn't expose Zhu Biao. Some things are enough just by having a tacit understanding.

The Ming Dynasty's Jinyiwei were indeed the pinnacle of spying and monitoring their own people!
It was precisely because of the existence of the Jinyiwei that many major cases occurred in the Ming Dynasty and the number of people implicated increased greatly. Although it allowed the Ming Dynasty's rulers to better control the Ming Dynasty, it also caused the deaths of many people. Naturally, officials and people were afraid and hated the Jinyiwei!
The reputation of the Jinyiwei is naturally notorious.

"Your Majesty, let's not talk about surveillance anymore. Let's continue talking about streamlining the number of officials." Ouyang Lun said, "I've heard your Majesty mention this more than once. I was going to help your Majesty do this, but the sudden expedition to the Northern Yuan Dynasty interrupted my plan. I didn't expect that the emperor would actually hand over the logistics of the army to me."

"Brother-in-law, you have so many responsibilities on your shoulders. Of course I can understand that!" Zhu Biao continued, "I have discussed this matter with my father, and he also quite agrees with your original suggestion, that is, there should be a clear system and a legitimate reason for the war!"

"It happened to happen at the same time as the Beijing-Pinggu Railway and the grassland war. I didn't have time to observe the local officials of the Ming Dynasty, but I saw all the performances of officials above the fifth rank in the capital!"

"To be honest, the personnel problem of our Ming Dynasty is more serious than I imagined!"

"Seeing these inactive and incompetent officials still holding key positions, I can't help but want to deal with them immediately!"

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Ouyang Lun immediately shook his head, "Your Majesty, this is not possible!"

"Brother-in-law, why?!" Zhu Biao looked at Ouyang Lun in confusion.

"Your Majesty, let's not talk about the Beijing-Pingyuan Railway for now. Let's talk about the war against the Northern Yuan Dynasty. It has just begun. If Your Majesty starts to clean up the court at this time, it will probably cause panic among the people. If the rear is in chaos, how can the soldiers on the front fight with peace of mind?"

Ouyang Lun continued, "I recently received news that although the Northern Yuan Dynasty has not developed very well in recent years, it has never stopped collecting intelligence on our Ming Dynasty!"

"Once they know that the Ming Dynasty is reducing its staff, there is no need to wait for the news to reach the ears of the frontline soldiers. The Northern Yuan Dynasty's secret sighs will help us pass it on. I'm afraid that if Your Majesty reorganizes the administration one day, the frontline officers and soldiers will know it the next day."

After hearing Ouyang Lun's analysis, Zhu Biao was a little unconvinced and said, "Brother-in-law, I don't agree with this. I reorganized the officials just to better handle things for the army. What are the soldiers afraid of?"

"As long as they are soldiers who have made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty, no one will be affected!"

"Your Majesty, you are still too anxious!" Ouyang Lun continued: "This method seems to be very good. It can rectify the administration of officials and remove those officials who are idle, incompetent, and inactive. It can save money and make the administration of the Ming Dynasty clean and positive!"

"But what about those officials who were dismissed? I just saw that many of them followed the retired emperor to fight on the battlefield in his early years. If Your Majesty handles them all, then what Your Majesty said just now about not letting the soldiers who have made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty go unaffected will be empty talk!"

"Or is it that Your Majesty only thinks that the soldiers fighting on the grasslands are making contributions to the Ming Dynasty, but the officers and soldiers who stayed behind in the Ming Dynasty have not made contributions to the Ming Dynasty? Or is it that those veterans who once sacrificed their lives for the Ming Dynasty are not the ones who made contributions to the Ming Dynasty?!"

"If these remarks were heard by the soldiers on the front line, what would they think?"

"In addition, I see that your majesty has also marked the relationships behind these officials who should be fired on this list. There are many members of the Huaixi Party, including other ministers in the court, such as Li Shanchang and Lu Chang, and even those who are related to us."

"Oh, by the way, there are also tasks that Lan Yu assigned to his adopted son and his subordinates!"

"If we really lay off all of them at once, no one else will say anything. But if Lan Yu heard this, what would he think? Would he still be able to fight against Bei Yuan with peace of mind?"

After hearing Ouyang Lun's question, Zhu Biao was completely stunned.

"If Your Majesty insists, I will not say anything. Let's just lie down, drink tea and chat."

After Ouyang Lun finished speaking, he did not continue talking, but picked up the teacup and sipped it slowly.

Seeing this, Zhu Biao hurriedly said, "Brother-in-law, I want you to help me check it again, check it out!"

"Also, I think what you said makes sense, brother-in-law. Even if the layoff list is out, we can not release it immediately, but wait for a while before dealing with it."

"Which people here should be laid off, which people should stay, or which people are not recorded on the list above, you can suggest them, brother-in-law. You know that I listen to your suggestions the most."

Hey!
When Ouyang Lun heard Zhu Biao's words, his eyelids raised.

He looked at Zhu Biao with some surprise.

My goodness, my brother-in-law has changed! He has become much smarter than before!

He called me here today, his thoughts are really not simple!

Asking him to review the list, to put it bluntly, isn't this giving him the power to fire officials? !
Using this method to gain his support for this matter? !
Probably.

However, Zhu Biao still underestimated Ouyang Lun. Ouyang Lun slowly put down the teacup in his hand and shook his head, saying, "Your Majesty, I have been busy with the Beijing-Ping Railway and the logistics of the army during this period."

"As for the review of the list of dismissed officials, Your Majesty should find someone else. I think the retired emperor is a good candidate. The retired emperor knows all the court officials well and is more likely to find problems during the review!"

(End of this chapter)