Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Zhu Yunhuan did want to make some adjustments to the Beijing Army, but this was just a small-scale military reform.

It is very necessary to carry out some military reforms in peacetime. Some of the current effective tactics and strategies are good, but that does not mean they do not need to be improved.

Since there is unlikely to be a large-scale war in the next two or three years, it is naturally necessary to make some small adjustments to the Beijing Army so that it can be immediately used when war breaks out.

Even though these Beijing troops are elite forces and seem to only need a little training, if they are new tactics, longer-term training will be required to truly unleash their combat effectiveness.

Of course, Zhu Yunhuan understood better that one should train the generals before training the soldiers. One incompetent general can lead to the death of the entire army. There are too many recorded cases of this in history books.

These are naturally lessons from the past, and Zhu Yunhuan must have needed to learn from them. Fortunately, he now has no shortage of generals, and not only is the combination of old, middle-aged and young people very good, but they all have practical combat experience.

After briefly communicating with Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong, Ru Hong, the Minister of Personnel, was called to Wuying Palace by Zhu Yunhuan.

Ru Hong knew this clearly, and quickly submitted a memorial, "Your Majesty, the officials of the previous dynasty who have been dismissed or retired are all here, and some rules have been drafted for their placement."

Zhu Yunhuan immediately took it and looked at it carefully. As for some local officials retained during the Yuan Dynasty, these people can now be considered to have retired after completing their duties. After all, the Ming Dynasty had been established for 30 years and the reserve of officials was sufficient.

Those who are able to continue to stay in office are basically at least in their fifties or sixties, and they can be allowed to retire and return home instead of being directly dismissed or killed on charges of a crime.

Zhu Yunhuan took a closer look and said with a smile, "The Ministry of Personnel evaluates and the Ministry of Rites commends. No matter what, these people have contributed to the Ming Dynasty."

Emperor Chengkang was merciful. If it were Emperor Hongwu, these officials would have been brutally eliminated even if they had not died of old age in office. There would be no courtesy at all.

Ru Rong naturally accepted the order and said, "I obey your order."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly and asked, "It's time to hand in the evaluations of these officials. I have been thinking about something. Do you think that this person is getting older and is slower in thinking?"

Ru Hong was shocked. He was only forty years old, in the prime of his life and in the time when he could make a career. After all, he was now the Minister of Personnel.

No, His Majesty did not say these words to him. These words were obviously referring to some older officials. Such situations might make people start to think too much.

For example, Li Shanchang, one of the six founding dukes of the Ming Dynasty, was over seventy years old at the time. Although he seemed to have retired, he was still clinging to power and was unwilling to leave Yingtian Prefecture. The result is naturally self-evident.

Ru Rong then spoke cautiously, "Your Majesty, I believe that many of the old ministers have extraordinary insights and are truly pillars of the court."

There is nothing wrong with saying this. Some older officials are indeed experienced. These people have experienced a lot of things, so naturally they are very knowledgeable about certain things.

However, Zhu Yunhuan still said, "Some officials are old and naturally a little confused. You have to pay attention to these things. Some people can't take care of themselves when they are old. You can't let them interfere with government affairs."

Ru Hong quickly assured, "Your Majesty, we will pay attention to this. If any official becomes old and demented, there will be other officials to take his place."

There is nothing wrong with dying in office, but the premise of all that is that the officials still have a clear understanding and are able to handle a series of political affairs.

When they really become old, senile or even demented, there will definitely be some replacements. It is impossible for these people to occupy official positions forever.

In fact, let alone Ru Rong, even Daoyan and others knew in their hearts that the emperor must have a purpose in bringing up these things. In the final analysis, he just wanted to replace some older officials.

This was also a relatively luxurious thing in the Hongwu Dynasty. Some officials were really reluctant to give up their official status and the power in their hands, so they wanted to occupy their official positions even when they were old.

But to be realistic, it was common for some Ming Dynasty officials to die in office. It was a luxury for them to retire and return home. Emperor Hongwu was not that kind to his officials.

Now let's look at Emperor Chengkang. Perhaps he was worried that the officials' age would affect the handling of government affairs. But isn't this also lenient to some officials? They can enjoy their old age in peace and contentment. How wonderful!

It is said that Emperor Chengkang is very scheming, and his way of doing things is somewhat similar to that of Emperor Hongwu. However, this new emperor seems to be very good to his officials, and it seems that their good days are just around the corner.

This is not an exaggeration. There are certain signs of this happening, which can be seen from information from all aspects.

Older officials can retire, and the emperor has previously hinted at increasing the salaries of middle and lower-ranking officials. Isn't this the best reflection that the emperor intends to treat officials a little better?

Zhu Yunhuan naturally didn't care much about Ru Hong and others thinking this way. He was just expressing his attitude. If some people made excessive inferences, then he would have no choice.

It is not easy to make cadres younger, and it cannot be said that the court should only have a large number of young talents, but Zhu Yunhuan absolutely does not want to see some officials who are too old.

Especially in the civil service class, if some officials have been in the political arena for forty or fifty years and have never been able to get out, that is obviously not a good thing.

Sir, even if Zhu Yunhuan is considering launching a cabinet to share some of the pressure in order to "reduce the burden", he will never allow some civil servants to have too much power. The necessary restrictions must still be in place.

Before Ru Hong left, Zhu Zhong asked for a meeting, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty naturally understood that there must be some urgent situation.

Zhu Zhong knelt down and said, "Your servant Zhu Zhong has a report to make."

Zhu Yunhuan said directly to Ru Rong, "Go back and discuss things with the officials of this government office. I will go to the Ministry of Personnel in a few days. Think about some things first and then tell me."

Ru Hong naturally took his leave in a hurry. It must be a sensitive matter for a big spy chief like Zhu Shou to ask for a meeting. Even if he is the Minister of Personnel, he cannot want to know everything. That is not a good thing.

After Ru Hong left, Zhu Zhong spoke directly, "Your Majesty, there are corrupt officials in Taicang Port, and there are sea merchants who are trying to collude with officers, soldiers, and envoys."

Zhu Yunhuan's face suddenly turned ugly. As long as there is interest, a lot of people will naturally move immediately. Some people may have been trying to restore the glory of the past. Like some gentry, they still miss the tax farming system of the Yuan Dynasty. It was one of the best times for them, the big landlords. They would be richer and freer.

This also includes some merchants and others, who actually miss the series of benefits they enjoyed during the Yuan Dynasty.

The Yuan Dynasty was not completely useless. The tax farming system must have been of great benefit to some landlords. They are naturally dissatisfied with some of the current systems of the Ming Dynasty because they are not in their favor.

The same goes for merchants. The treatment of some merchants in the Ming Dynasty is not good, and it can be said that it is far worse than that in the Yuan Dynasty.

Maritime merchants had even more difficulties. In the Yuan Dynasty, there were many large sea merchants. The Pu family in Quanzhou and Shen Wansan, the richest man in Suzhou, all made a lot of money through maritime trade.

These wealthy merchants would naturally miss the life in the Yuan Dynasty. Not only does the current Ming Dynasty not give them more privileges, even the field of maritime trade is strictly restricted.

Zhu Yunhuan asked with an unpleasant expression, "Now these people really have something on their mind. It seems that they still think that I am lenient and merciful, so they are fearless."

Daoyan and others actually did not hold such a view. It was simply that people died for money and birds died for food. During the Hongwu Dynasty, countless corrupt officials were killed, but there were still many corrupt officials.

The same is true for some officials and businessmen today. Although they know that some of the things they do are definitely risky, they are willing to take risks for possible benefits.

Zhu Yunhuan stared at Zhu Shou and asked sternly, "What's going on now? What did your Northern Pacification Division find out?"

Zhu Zhong naturally did not dare to conceal it, and immediately answered, "Your Majesty, it has been discovered that officials of the Maritime Customs and some officers colluded with merchants, the goods were defective, or the imperial fleet had merchants' goods."

Zhu Yunhuan's face suddenly became extremely ugly. These things seemed to be the simplest, but they were actually fleecing the poor. They were busy enriching themselves and engaging in corruption.

Although Zhu Zhong was nervous, he was not particularly afraid because it was his Northern Pacification Division that uncovered the case, and this was his credit.

If nothing is found, then it is his fault. Even if Your Majesty wants to punish some officials now, it is only the corrupt officials.

Zhu Zhong continued, "Your Majesty, I have also discovered that the royal palace seems to be involved and provided defective goods."

Zhu Yunhuan laughed angrily. He originally thought that he had been quite good to the royal family and that he was thinking of these people when he got some benefits. But it was obvious that some people were still greedy. This was a typical case of human greed.

The royal family members are obviously greedy. They think that the royal family's supplies and other necessities are natural, because they are royal family members and the court naturally needs to support them.

But now the imperial court is strict and does not allow the unauthorized printing of banknotes, etc., which means that the royal family members are definitely unable to increase their income on their own, so they have to think of a series of other methods.

The royal family is now allowed to participate in some things like maritime trade, which also means that it is not necessary to strictly abide by certain laws and regulations.

If things go wrong, it has nothing to do with them. The court will naturally cover it. They don’t mind doing wrong things. As long as they get real benefits, that is obviously enough.

Zhu Yunhuan was very dissatisfied. "Where are the Jinyiwei? Are those people in Jinyiwei deaf or blind? They don't know anything about these things?"

Zhu Zhong still had no expression on his face, and he might have felt a little gloating in his heart. After all, this matter was discovered by the Northern Pacification Division, and this was their credit.

It doesn't matter if the Jinyiwei suffered a loss. If His Majesty is dissatisfied with the Jinyiwei, then the trust will be transferred to the Northern Pacification Division, and they will be able to get more resources.

Zhang Fusheng immediately sent people to summon Jiang Li. It was obvious that the commander of the Jinyiwei would be punished by His Majesty. However, this was very easy to understand, because His Majesty had always rewarded the merits and punished the faults.

Jiang Li came hurriedly, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Zhu Zhong. "Your Majesty, I, Jiang Li, pay my respects to you. Long live your Majesty."

Zhu Yunhuan threw Zhu Zhong's memorial directly over and said, "Take a look. After you have read it carefully, tell me what you think. Tell me what you, the commander of the Jinyiwei, have been busy with recently."

Jiang Lin's heart trembled, and he quickly crawled forward two steps in fear. He picked up the memorial and began to read it. The more he read, the more frightened he became, and his face became very ugly.

He felt that he had been outed by Zhu Zhong. Zhu Zhong had found out something and immediately came to His Majesty to take credit for it, which really screwed over his Imperial Guards.

However, as a ruthless man who was able to secure his position as the commander of the Jinyiwei, Jiang Li's ability was naturally beyond doubt. He was also very dissatisfied with his subordinates, who had not investigated such a big thing!
After all, Your Majesty attaches great importance to maritime trade, and the government and the public are still struggling over maritime trade and the Maritime Customs. Everyone hopes to swallow such a big cake in one bite.

Jiang Li kowtowed repeatedly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I failed in my duty. I hope Your Majesty will punish me!"

"Punishment, will this matter be over if I punish you?" Zhu Yunhuan shouted unhappily, "You will be punished with ten military sticks later, and then you can tell me how to deal with this matter!"

Jiang Li kowtowed repeatedly, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

Flattery reached its peak, but in the era of imperial power, thunder, lightning, rain and dew were all grace from the emperor. Naturally, there was nothing wrong with Jiang Li's attitude, and it was completely understandable.

On the other hand, it is naturally because Jiang Li is the commander of the Jinyiwei. As the emperor's lackeys, these people are very different from some officials in the outer court.

Zhu Yunhuan pointed at the memorial on the ground and said to Daoyan, "Look, the officials and merchants of our Ming Dynasty are really not afraid of death. These corrupt officials are endless, and all the benefits in the world should belong to them!"

Daoyan and Xia Yuanji were both horrified when they heard this, because the emperor's anger was not concealed at all, and His Majesty might very likely stir up a big case because of this.

But if you think about it, it is understandable. Your Majesty has always attached great importance to maritime trade and the Maritime Customs. Now there are corrupt officials doing these things. It would be strange if he was not angry.

On the other hand, the new emperor did this right after ascending the throne, which was simply a slap in the face of Emperor Chengkang. Naturally, these people will not have a good ending! (End of this chapter)