Daming: I am the Crown Prince

It is impossible to change the extremely harsh laws and punishments during the Zhu Yuanzhang era, but moderate relaxation is still something that can be considered.

It is normal to do certain things at certain times. After all, even if it is a "severe crackdown", it will not continue forever.

After thirty years of harsh laws and severe punishments, it is indeed necessary to consider loosening up the laws a little.

This is not only a relaxation for officials, but also a relaxation for ordinary people.

Zhu Yunhuan returned to the Qianqing Palace and asked, "Where is the queen?"

Zhang Fusheng immediately replied, "Her Majesty the Queen has gone to visit His Majesty the Second Prince."

Zhu Yunhuan then nodded and said, "Let's prepare dinner. We'll start when the queen returns."

After saying this, Zhu Yunhuan picked up a book and started reading.

Zhang Fusheng and others have also gotten used to it. There used to be rumors that the current emperor has never liked reading since he was a child, and many people still believe these rumors.

But people like Zhang Fusheng know very well that the emperor's favorite thing to read is history books. Although he often claims that he does not seek to understand too much, he actually reads these books.

This is the way to learn from history, to look at what happened in history, to look at some of the solutions at that time, and so on.

The current emperor just doesn't like reading some Confucian classics. No one can say that he really doesn't like reading.

Xu Miaojin came back and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, I have seen Wenjun. The child looks fine and cries loudly."

"Well, I don't plan to go and see them any more." Zhu Yunhuan joked, "I like to make children cry, but I don't like to see them cry."

Hearing Zhu Yunhuan say this, Xu Miaojin didn't know what to say. She did know some of Zhu Yunhuan's little hobbies, such as making children cry for no reason, but basically not comforting them after they cried.

Xu Miaojin smiled and said, "Wenjun seems to be a well-behaved child and is good-looking. Wen Yao was not so good-looking when he was born, and I shouldn't have said that. When I saw Wen Yao at that time, I was worried that His Majesty would not like it."

Zhu Yunxun asked curiously, "What's wrong? You and I look pretty good. Wen Yao is now white and plump, and looks like a lucky doll. How can he not be likable?"

This is not a dad filter, but Zhu Wenyao is just cuter in himself.

The little face is chubby and rosy, and you can tell at first glance that the child is well-nourished. The child also has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looks like a lucky doll.

Even if people didn't know that he was the eldest prince, if it was reported to the outside world, he would still be a child who would be praised.

"At that time, it was red, wrinkled, thin and small, and it didn't look very good." Xu Miaojin said with a smile, "I cried secretly a few times at that time, but the nanny said that the child would be fine when he grew up. Concubine Ning advised me a lot, but at that time I just thought she was lying to me."

When Zhu Yunhuan heard Xu Miaojin mention these things, he couldn't help but laugh. It was indeed quite interesting.

But if you think about it carefully, Xu Miaojin's situation is completely understandable, because most newborns are indeed ugly when they are born, and it is not uncommon for their parents to cry because of their ugliness.

If you take care of them, many children will become plump and good-looking, white and good-looking when they grow up. To exaggerate a little, a newborn baby changes every day, and if you don’t see the child for a few days, you will feel that the child has grown a lot.

The young couple was talking, and it didn't seem like they were too concerned about the absence of Old Zhu and Zhu Wenyao from the palace.

After all, the couple's relationship is still good, and there is no need for them to observe the so-called etiquette everywhere, let alone the couple being "respectful to each other like guests", or only the monarch and his subjects.

After talking about the child, Zhu Yunxun said, "I talked with several ministers in Wuying Hall today, and mentioned that the court has always been strict in punishment and law."

Xu Miaojing became serious. Under normal circumstances, she would not participate in topics related to state affairs. Of course, most of the time, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunhuan would not allow her to discuss or pay attention to some matters related to state affairs.

The harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs. It can be said that this is a rule that Xu Miaojin has truly begun to establish. Even if it is just the beginning, at least this rule exists.

But since Zhu Yunhuan brought up these things, she should listen patiently. Maybe he would arrange for her to do something.

Zhu Yunxun asked with a smile, "I guess you have heard these discussions over the years, right?"

Xu Miaojin replied cautiously, "If I say I haven't heard of it, Your Majesty will definitely not believe it. But my Zhongshan Palace has a strict family tradition, and the children in the palace are also law-abiding, so there is no such worry."

Zhu Yunhuan complained directly, "I don't think so. Back then, my grandfather felt that some nobles were too powerful, so the King of Zhongshan took the lead in releasing some of the palace guards."

Xu Miaojin was speechless at this point. Although she did not have a deep impression of this incident, it did not mean that it did not happen.

The actual situation is indeed like this. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang did feel that some nobles owned too much land and supported too many tenants, which was somewhat contrary to the vigorous restoration of national strength.

So at that time Xu Da took the lead in releasing some slaves in the mansion and gave some land to these people.

Xu Miaojin then smiled and said, "Your Highness is right. He only mentioned the matter of severe punishment. I didn't quite understand it before, but now I think it was a bit simplistic."

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan waiting for the next step, Xu Miaojin told the truth, "Grandfather Huang adopted strict laws, but there were still unjust officials who acted recklessly. If we hadn't rectified the atmosphere at the beginning, I'm afraid there would have been a big disaster long ago."

Zhu Yunhuan also nodded. Sometimes, severe punishments do not represent everything, and do not mean that corruption and lawlessness will completely disappear.

Therefore, we still need to be vigilant when we need to be vigilant. Some things, once we let go, are likely to lead to endless troubles.

Zhu Yunhuan said in agreement, "Let's not talk about other things. When my grandfather was in office, there were the empty seal case and the Guo Huan case. I just became the emperor, and something happened in Hongcang and Taicang Port. Sometimes I think these people are really not afraid of death."

People die for money and birds die for food. Some people really don't consider any risks when faced with huge benefits. Taking risks seems normal to them.

If they win the bet, they will become rich. As for losing, they will not think too much about it. They all hope for luck or think that their little tricks are foolproof.

Xu Miaojin didn't know how to comment on this, because some things really happened. It seems that the past is a lesson for the future, but this is not necessarily absolute, because many people just don't learn from the lessons.

Zhu Yunxun then asked again, "Do you think it would be good or bad if it were more relaxed?"

Seeing that it was unavoidable, Xu Miaojin said cautiously, "Your Majesty, I have heard that 'If the government is lenient, the people will be lazy. If they are lazy, they should be corrected with severity. If the government is harsh, the people will be cruel. If they are cruel, they should be treated with leniency. Leniency can help severity, and severity can help leniency. The government will be harmonious.'"

This answer made Zhu Yunhuan very satisfied, because sometimes some great truths are written in books, but some people just don't listen.

The story mentioned by Xu Miaojin is recorded in "Zuo Zhuan". Before his death, Zichan of Zheng State handed over the state affairs to his son Taishu, and also asked Taishu not to be too lenient and merciful when governing the country, but to be strict when necessary.

As a result, after Zi Taishu came to power, he could not bear to implement harsh policies on the people and ruled the country with leniency, which resulted in the rise of thieves in Zheng. He then remembered Zichan's will and realized the consequences of not enforcing the criminal law strictly.

As a result, refugees gathered in Zheng and Song, and he sent troops to kill them all. Then he wanted to start to tighten the criminal law, which resulted in even greater bloodshed.

After hearing about this, Confucius made some comments. He said that governing a country should be both lenient and strict. Only by combining leniency and strictness can the country be stable.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "The current situation is that everyone feels that the punishment is too harsh, but I can't relax it all of a sudden. You have seen the consequences of being too harsh, but once I relax it, it's hard to say what will happen."

This is different from what Zhu Yuan Dynasty called "the Yuan Dynasty failed because of leniency". The Yuan Dynasty was not "lenient", but many officials of the Yuan Dynasty did not care about things at all, and pushed the responsibilities that should have been borne by the court onto the landlords and powerful people.

The status of the imperial court was replaced by the landlords and powerful people in the society, and the series of consequences it caused are self-evident, such as the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

Xu Miaojin said, "Your Majesty, you can try to be lenient in some areas first, but you should still be strict where necessary."

Zhu Yunhuan said in distress, "This is the problem. There are rules for where to be more relaxed and where to be more strict. It is said that we should not disturb the people, but once we are relaxed on the people, it may not be a good thing."

After thinking about it carefully, Xu Miaojin understood some of Zhu Yunhuan's ideas.

Some Huang-Lao scholars hope to see that the people will not be disturbed and that they can recover and develop. However, if this is done, it is very likely that the clan power will develop, which will make it difficult for the court to further control the local area.

It is a common phenomenon in this era that imperial power does not extend to the countryside, and this is also something the imperial court does not want to see.

Some relaxation towards the people may actually lead to the rapid development of local clans.

Nowadays, many people do not trust the imperial court but only the clans. In some places, the authority of the clans far exceeds that of the imperial court. Some clans set various punishments in private, and the local government cannot even interfere too much.

Doing so seems to unite the power of the clan and resist certain risks, etc. But sometimes, those big clan leaders and others are also exploiting some marginal relatives.

The young couple were worried because things seemed to have two sides. It was really not easy to find a perfect solution, and it was even a luxury.

Zhu Yunhuan was distressed and said, "I am busy with government affairs now, and my grandfather was even more diligent in the past. It's just that we are so busy, and there are more and more government affairs, and we can never finish them."

Zhu Yunhuan has a say in this, not only because he is now the emperor and knows how many political affairs he has to deal with every day.

Even when he was the Crown Prince, he sometimes lamented that there was not enough time. There were so many important and urgent matters that he could not finish them all. As soon as he dealt with one thing, a new one would immediately arise.

Xu Miaojin also saw this. Few people knew better than her how busy and diligent Zhu and Zhu Yunhuan were. The result of the emperor's diligence was that he was busy every day and had little time to rest.

As for enjoyment, she never saw Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunhuan having any time to enjoy themselves. Perhaps the greatest pleasure of these two emperors was to constantly deal with state affairs.

This may not be because of their pleasure, but simply because of responsibility, which is the responsibility that an emperor must bear.

Zhu Yunhuan said helplessly, "I took over the power from my grandfather, but sometimes I feel sad that there is no Zhongshu Province and no prime minister. I have to make all the decisions on big and small matters."

Xu Miaojin immediately reminded, "Your Majesty, you must not restore the prime minister system!"

Ever since the Hu Weiyong case, people have become a little nervous when talking about the prime minister.

Zhu Yuanzhang was also very powerful. Anyone who dared to mention restoring the prime minister system would be executed without a second thought. This was something only a treacherous minister would want to do.

If Zhu Yunhuan mentioned these things, he would definitely be furious, there is no doubt about it.

However, the current Ming Dynasty does not have a prime minister, but it is hard to say what will happen in the future. In history, some of the cabinet chiefs had more power than the prime minister.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "I will definitely not resume my position as prime minister. Would I bother myself for no reason?"

Xu Miaojin also laughed. She also felt that Zhu Yunhuan would definitely not restore the prime minister system, as that would be a restriction on imperial power.

Given the character of the current emperor, how could he take the initiative to weaken the imperial power?
These are things that do not need to be doubted at all. There are many things that the current emperor wants to do, but he does not have enough power, so he will inevitably be constrained if he wants to do something.

If we think about it a little more, whether it is opening up the sea for trade, dredging the Grand Canal, or restoring the treasure notes, etc., the progress now seems to be going smoothly, and a big part of the reason is that Zhu Yunhuan holds real power.

If there is not enough power as a guarantee, these things may be accomplished, but it will not be as efficient as it is now, and there may be many twists and turns in doing these things.

Now that he has enough power in his hands, it is unlikely that Zhu Yunhuan will voluntarily give up some of the power. He also needs to continue to rely on this power to do his work.

The young couple chatted and briefly discussed some political matters.

This certainly does not fall within the scope of the harem being forbidden from interfering in politics. This is just Zhu Yunhuan occasionally complaining about his work.

Not to mention that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know, even if he did know, Zhu Yunhuan had enough confidence to argue.

However, for Zhu Yunhuan, some current problems do need to be solved, and these problems cannot be allowed to exist forever! (End of this chapter)