Daming: I am the Crown Prince

The West Palace was peaceful and warm because Zhu Wenyao broke free from Baoqing's hand and ran over babbling and stumbling.

As long as the child was present, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunhuan would basically not quarrel. As long as the child was around, Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards maids and eunuchs would be much gentler.

We must not scare children, and we must not let them see bad things, so naturally we have to be gentler.

"Grandfather." Zhu Wenyao threw himself on Old Zhu and looked warily at Zhu Yunxun who was sitting next to him, "Dad, let's go."

Old Zhu laughed out loud. Children can't hide their thoughts, and it is obvious who they are close to.

Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help laughing. Children's minds are indeed simple, and sometimes they have a sense of possessiveness. It is not allowed to hug other children with their own parents and grandparents. Such situations are everywhere.

This is the case with Zhu Wenyao now. Although Old Zhu will definitely not hug Zhu Yunhuan, this is not enough. Sometimes it is necessary to keep a distance, which is best.

Xu Miaojin and Guo Ningfei began to arrange the dinner. Old Zhu ate while teasing Zhu Wenyao and helped feed him from time to time.

Zhu Yunhuan was not tactless. It was normal to feed the child now since he was still young. The most important thing was that they were enjoying the family happiness. If he didn't open his eyes, he would definitely be scolded.

The situation in the West Palace can be said to be very harmonious, but many court officials were worried. In fact, after being called to Wuying Palace by Zhu Yunhuan from the North, many ministers returned to the yamen to discuss countermeasures urgently.

When something like this happens, naturally no one dares to take it lightly, and everyone is extremely nervous, because a single carelessness could turn it into a major case.

The Guo Huan case, the empty seal case, etc. were all caused by administrative problems. At that time, many officials were implicated, and the ministers and vice ministers in the court could not escape the blame. The vacancies in the six ministries began at that time.

Although these things happened more than ten years ago, and some officials have not even experienced those turmoil, it's still scary to think about it.

Emperor Chengkang is indeed not Emperor Hongwu. He seems to be much more lenient, but don't be too optimistic. The current emperor is also decisive and murderous.

What's more, it is impossible for Emperor Hongwu to be unaware of such a big thing. If there is another large-scale killing of officials at that time, it might be Emperor Hongwu who will step in.

Everyone is well aware of some of the big dramas. As long as the retired emperor is still alive, the current emperor will not bear the reputation of being a killer. Even if the idea was his, the person was still killed by Emperor Hongwu.

There will definitely not be peace in the court from now on, and many people will have to be nervous and cautious for a period of time.

Not only do you need to carefully review whether you are involved in these matters, but you also need to think carefully about whether you may be implicated in such matters by the officials under you.

These are obviously not trivial matters, and all officials need to be alert now, because when something like this happens, it is destined to be no trivial matter.

After a short day's rest, Zhu Yunhuan had to go to court again and carefully consider and deal with some things.

All the officials outside the Fengtian Gate were extremely nervous. This was a time when a storm was about to come. Many people already knew what was happening, or had heard some rumors. No one could take it easy.

What made the civil and military officials even more worried was that Zhu Jihui and other princes' sons also appeared at Fengtian Gate. They were not here to express their gratitude and prepare to return to their fiefdoms, but were asked by the emperor to attend the court.

All these signs are very special, and everyone needs to be more careful at this time because the matter is really too big.

When the sound of the whip sounded, no matter what the officials thought, they had to rush to court. Perhaps they would be judged, or face the risk of being beaten.

Zhu Yunhuan sat on the dragon throne amid the worship of hundreds of officials. He did not speak at first, but just glanced around at the officials.

Since the emperor did not speak, all the officials naturally felt even more uneasy, especially because the emperor did not ask them to stand up as per the convention, but asked them to continue kneeling.

This is the emperor's attitude. This is how the emperor expressed his dissatisfaction with these civil and military officials without any concealment. The emergence of such a major case is also a kind of torment and torture for many people.

Zhu Yunhuan spoke up, which made people even more frightened. "Let Zhu Zhong, the captain of the Northern Pacification Division, come over."

All the officials were so nervous at this moment that they directly summoned the chief officer of the Northern Pacification Office instead of reporting to him first like in the usual court sessions. It seemed like this was a "special session".

The Zhenfusi was notorious. Initially, this office was affiliated with the Jinyiwei and was responsible for suppressing corrupt officials with torture.

It's just that when the current emperor was still the crown prince, the Northern Pacification Division was separated from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Now the Northern Pacification Division has greater power, and it is also a restriction on the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Zhu Zhong quickly stepped into the hall, knelt down and said, "I am Zhu Zhong, the captain of the Northern Pacification Division. I pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor. Long live His Majesty!"

Zhu Yunhuan also said directly, "Tell us what you have investigated in detail. The nobles in the Fengtian Palace are all pillars of the country and saints who take the people of the world as their responsibility!"

The officials were used to the emperor's identity as a great Yin-Yang master. However, many people were upset by such ironic words, and the emperor did not hide his dissatisfaction, which was the best proof.

What else is there to say? The emperor is basically pointing at the noses of all the civil and military officials in the court and scolding them, with no intention of showing any mercy.

However, many people do feel guilty when such cases occur. Even if the emperor speaks some negative words to them now, it is nothing strange, as long as they are not actually involved in those cases.

These can be regarded as the "solid foundation" laid by Zhu Yuanzhang for Zhu Yunhuan. The civil and military officials who came out of the Hongwu Dynasty had strong psychological qualities, low requirements for the emperor, and did not dare to say much.

Zhu Zhong immediately said, "Your Majesty, we have learned from our investigation that the fleet preparing to go out to sea at Taicang Port has many defective goods. Among them, many civil and military officials and runners are corrupt and partial to their own interests!"

The ministers who already knew about this were not too surprised. They were just thinking about how to protect themselves.

The officials who had not received clear information before were terrified, as it seemed that this was a major case from beginning to end.

After Zhu Zhong finished his report, he stopped talking and knelt on the ground in a proper manner. The civil and military officials were even more so. They had been kneeling since the beginning of the worship, and now they knelt even more dutifully and in a proper manner. The oppressive atmosphere made many people tremble in their hearts. The emperor seemed not to plan to say anything, but just sat quietly on the dragon throne and looked down at these officials, and the officials naturally did not dare to say much.

After a pause of more than a minute, Zhu Yunhuan finally spoke, "My dear ministers, did you hear what Zhu Zhong said?"

Naturally, no one among the officials dared to respond, because they all knew the seriousness of the matter.

Not only is His Majesty extremely concerned about maritime trade, it can even be said that this matter was promoted by His Majesty the Emperor. Moreover, this is a top-down conspiracy, which is an absolute major case.

Zhu Yunhuan was very dissatisfied with the silence in the court and the lack of response. "What's wrong? Didn't you understand? Do you want me to say it again?"

At this, all the officials responded in unison, "Your Majesty, we understand. We are guilty!"

These officials were really trained by Zhu Yuanzhang. They all knew how to respond at this time. At least in terms of attitude, the officials knew how to respond to the emperor.

Zhu Yunhuan said with some mockery, "Do you understand now? Of course, I don't need anyone to explain it again. Now that you have heard it clearly, then can you please tell me why this happened?"

At this point all the officials were speechless again. No one dared to speak first at this time. Anyone with a discerning eye knew that in such a situation, whoever spoke first would be the first to stick his head out, and being scolded by His Majesty would be the least of his worries.

Seeing that the officials were silent, Zhu Yunhuan called out their names directly, "Ru Rong, you are the Minister of Personnel. I remember that when the Maritime Customs Office was separated, your Ministry of Personnel was the most anxious. How do you think this happened?"

Ru Hong must have known that he could not escape, but he was not too nervous or worried. As long as His Majesty did not implicate others, he, the Minister of Personnel, should not be implicated too much.

The main reason why he was named now is that His Majesty the Emperor is dissatisfied with some previous events.

That is, the matter of maritime trade has been basically confirmed, the Maritime Customs Office has been reopened, and the Ministry of Personnel is indeed busy trying to get the Maritime Customs Office back.

Regardless of whether it is in the local provincial government or directly under the central government, it would be against the interests of civil servants if they could be allowed to intervene, rather than being controlled by the Five Military Commissions or the Ministry of Clan Affairs.

Ru Rong knew that he could not escape, so he confessed his guilt decisively, "Your Majesty, we failed to select officials and made mistakes in appointments and dismissals. Please punish us."

This is a smart man. The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for "personnel". Now Ru Hong's attitude is that the biggest problem of the Ministry of Personnel is that it has failed to supervise, so a few corrupt officials were found out in this matter.

As for the others, they are naturally gone. There is no such thing as the Ministry of Personnel being involved in it. This is only the business of lower-level officials, or even local officials. The Ministry of Personnel is now feeling wronged.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Ruhong, snorted coldly and said nothing. He had already guessed that Ruhong would have such an attitude.

This is the most normal attitude. It would be strange if Ru Hong took on too much responsibility. After all, it is relatively easy for the Ministry of Personnel to exonerate itself in this matter.

The Ministry of Personnel can relatively easily extricate itself from this troublesome matter, but other government offices may not be able to do so. Other important officials should be terrified at this time.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Yu Xin and asked, "Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, then tell me. If the maritime trade and the Maritime Customs Office are under the Ministry of Revenue, how much silver can the court get?"

It is obvious that this is also bringing up old issues, because the Ministry of Revenue was also quite anxious about the maritime trade at the beginning and wanted to take control of the benefits here.

But looking at it now, we still don’t know how much benefit maritime trade will bring. There are just some troubles before our eyes. These are real troubles. Your Majesty is now going over old accounts.

Yu Xin did not dare to be vague and said decisively, "Your Majesty, I failed to discipline my subordinates strictly, which led to corruption among the officials of the Ministry of Revenue. Please punish them!"

Since it was obvious that the emperor was digging up old accounts, the Ministry of Revenue was indeed guilty and could not escape responsibility in this matter. At this time, there was no need to think about getting away with a clean bill of health.

The important thing at this time is to express your attitude. If you really try to defend yourself or resist at this time, the emperor will get really angry, and it will be difficult for you to plead guilty even if you want to.

After all, Emperor Chengkang is not Emperor Hongwu, and the current emperor will not punish too severely for some things.

Zhu Yunhuan did not say much, and then looked at Bao Zhao, "Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Imperial Censor, what do you think? What on earth is the government office in charge of criminal law and supervision busy with?"

Bao Zhao and Lian Zining naturally confessed their guilt immediately. If His Majesty really believed this, there would be nothing wrong with it, because the government office in charge of the law seemed to have failed in its duty in this matter.

But there is no need to be overly nervous, because of course, although it seems like dereliction of duty, there has been no case before, so there is no need to be overly stressed.

Since they are not the primary responsible party, they can try their best to get out of this dispute safely, which is very likely to be possible.

Each of these civil and military officials in the court is a smart man. Since they can gain a foothold in the court, they are definitely not simple people. They have experienced all kinds of twists and turns and storms to a greater or lesser extent.

Since this is the situation, you naturally know what to do at this time and how to get out of it as safely as possible.

Looking at these cunning officials, Zhu Yunhuan actually didn't take them too seriously. If someone really took the initiative to step forward and take all the blame, then he would start to worry.

When someone comes out to take the blame as soon as a big case breaks out, it naturally means that many people have already thought about how to deal with the case, which proves that all of this is controlled by certain interest groups.

Fortunately, such a situation does not exist in the current Ming Dynasty. There are not too many interest groups that can join forces to undermine the emperor and restrict some of his will.

So everything is under control, and many things can still be carried out according to Zhu Yunhuan's plan.

It is understandable that all officials are trying hard to reduce their presence and the involvement of their own offices at this time.

However, Zhu Yunhuan may not let these people get what they want. He must have the initiative in some things in his hands. It is wishful thinking for some people to want to be exempted from responsibility! (End of this chapter)