Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 15: Civil and military achievements cannot be questioned!
Zhu Yuanzhang sat upright, pressing the three words "Xia Zhibai" tightly. After reading this "anti-document" thoroughly, his face became extremely ugly.

He glanced at Mao Xiang coldly and waved his hand, saying, "You go down first."

Mao Xiang said quickly: "I will take my leave."

After Mao Xiang walked out of the hall, Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the test paper on the table, completely unable to suppress his anger.

"Is this what I am like in the eyes of the scholars of the world? Just a farmer who can fight a war, a rough man who can't govern a country?"

"Biao'er, come and tell us."

“Can’t we govern the country?”

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were as big as copper bells, and he stared at Zhu Biao with an intimidating aura, giving people a strong sense of oppression.

Zhu Biao groaned and his face turned pale.

He cupped his hands and said, "Father, I dare not comment on you, but in your eyes, your wisdom and bravery far surpass those of Han Wen and Tang Wen."

"Since my father took command of the army, he has paid great attention to the suffering of the people. Every time he conquered a piece of land, he would immediately order the farmers to return to farming, reward them for reclaiming wasteland, and restore their livelihoods."

"In order to balance local inequalities and eliminate the gap between the north and the south, we also promoted large-scale immigration and military settlements, and organized farmers from all over the country to build water conservancy projects to strengthen production and life in the north."

"Since the founding of the country, it has followed the practices of previous dynasties, relocated the rich, suppressed the powerful, and issued orders to free slaves, reduce taxes, and severely punish corrupt officials."

"This kind of achievement is witnessed by heaven and earth, and it is simply not something that these scholars can smear or insult."

"Justice is in the hearts of the people. If the emperor was really as incompetent as this person said, how could he have established the country in fifteen years? And make the world more peaceful and stable?"

"At the beginning of the founding of the country, perhaps many people had doubts about the Ming Dynasty and were unwilling to serve our dynasty. However, after eighteen years of governance by my father, there were as many as 20,000 candidates who came to take the imperial examination this time."

"Has the world ever seen such a prosperous era of culture and governance?!"

"Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it has recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun in one fell swoop. This is the homeland that China had lost for more than 400 years."

"We conquered the Northern Yuan Dynasty three times and completely crushed the Mongols' arrogance to the south. We also gradually pacified the west, conquered Yunnan, subdued Dali, expanded our territory, and demonstrated our national power. Now all nations come to pay tribute, and the whole world is in submission."

"How can such martial arts be criticized?"

"This person has only a vague understanding of the achievements of the emperor, and yet he barks like a dog and dares to insult the emperor so arrogantly."

"As a son, I must kill him!"

A fierce murderous intent flashed in Zhu Biao's eyes, and his attitude was extremely resolute.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not say anything, but just stared at Zhu Biao coldly, as if he wanted to see something from Zhu Biao's frightened face.

a long time.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat down again and looked at the test paper again. Zhu Biao lowered his head and said nothing.

"Huh."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, his tone full of disappointment and depression, and said: "Biao'er, you are our son. I have been watching you since you were born. I know exactly what you are thinking."

"Don't play these little tricks with us."

"We don't like it."

"We hope you can speak out your thoughts openly."

"I didn't." Zhu Biao showed a trace of panic on his face and knelt on the ground immediately.

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly, with a hint of anger in his eyes, but when he saw Zhu Biao's trembling appearance, he also felt a little distressed.

He sat up from his seat, walked to the emperor, helped Zhu Biao up, straightened Zhu Biao's clothes, and said with his hands behind his back: "We are father and son."

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Zhu Biao, hesitated for a moment, and then changed his words: "You have also read this anti-article, so let me ask you." "What if I am like this?!"

Zhu Biao's face changed drastically, he lowered his head and said in panic: "Father..."

Zhu Yuanzhang put his hands behind his back, turned around, and did not look at Zhu Biao again. Instead, he looked outside the hall and said coldly: "You are our son. We don't even need to think about your little tricks. We know what you are planning."

"Since you dare to have such thoughts, why don't you speak out your true thoughts? Do you think I will harm you?"

"Since you won't say it, then I'll say it myself. What this person said is right. This is what I did. I have understood one truth since the day I started the army."

"No one outside the world can be trusted."

"The only people we can rely on are our own family."

"If the Ming Dynasty is really in danger, do you think these officials will work hard for the Ming Dynasty? It doesn't matter who becomes the emperor."

"We are all officials, so where are we not officials?"

"But our family is different. We are the royal family. We don't have any grassland to run to. If something happens, only our Zhu family can save us."

"Because the Zhu family is all from the same vine, and share weal and woe, they are more reliable than any other ministers."

“We don’t think it’s wrong to do so.”

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him with a disdainful look, with a strong sense of unquestionability. He had started his army and had been through so many things, and most of the time he relied on his adopted sons and nephews to get through it.

When he was poor and destitute, he was helped by his relatives. In addition, he was courteous to the wise and humble, but those scholars looked down on him and ridiculed him.

It also made him completely distrustful of outsiders.

Zhu Biao's expression changed again and again. How could he not know what his father was thinking?
In recent years, my father has been deliberately withdrawing troops, letting his younger brothers take charge of the border troops, his adopted sons take charge of the imperial guards, and making the military generals in the court just decorations.

But my father is the ruler of a country after all.

Not just the head of the family.

Doing so will undoubtedly further increase the suspicion between my father and the court officials. If this continues, the emperor will not trust his officials and the officials will not trust the emperor. How can the country be governed well?

Zhu Biao raised his head.

He did not dare to look directly into Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, but gritted his teeth and said, "Since father wants you to speak your true thoughts."

"I will be bold for once today."

"As a son, this man behaved so rebelliously that he should be killed to serve as a warning to others. However, as the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and the son of Your Majesty, I have to consider more."

"If this person is truly talented, I will definitely make use of him!"

"As the saying goes, honest advice hurts the ear."

"This person has never been close to the imperial court, but he can see so many things from some trivial matters. This is enough to prove that he is talented and knowledgeable."

"And I also think that your father has placed too much emphasis on agriculture in government affairs, and that your father has acted too forcefully and tyrannically."

"My father once said that the Ming Dynasty cannot have only half of the country, but why did he only focus on soldiers and agriculture, and suppress other related things?"

"My son knows."

"At present, the Northern Yuan Dynasty still exists, and the threat to our Ming Dynasty still exists. There are also many people in the world who want to rebel against the Ming Dynasty and restore the Yuan Dynasty, or to summon the souls of Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng. The Ming Dynasty cannot take it lightly."

"Our dynasty was able to defeat them head-on back then. Now that our Ming Dynasty is even more powerful, should we still tie our own hands?"

"I think this is wrong."

(End of this chapter)