Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 388: Before fighting against the outside world, you must first settle down at home!

The first month of the 20th year of Hongwu.

Yingtian Prefecture has been silent for more than a month.

During this month, nothing major happened in the world. There were sporadic reports of roads collapsing and some livestock freezing to death, but compared with previous years, there were much fewer incidents. Although it was still winter and the weather was still cold, everyone was looking forward to the arrival of spring.

East Palace.

Zhu Biao summoned Xia Zhibai again.

Compared with the last time, Zhu Biao was obviously much more confident this time.

During this month or so, there was no trouble in the court, but his rivalry with Zhu Yuanzhang never stopped. Even Xia Zhibai, who was not a person who inquired about news, heard about the quarrels between Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao every now and then, and the intensity of the quarrels was even getting worse.

More and more frequent.

However, all this noise gradually disappeared as we entered the new year.

Everything returned to its former tranquility.

As if nothing happened.

Zhu Biao stood with his hands behind his back, waiting quietly for Xia Zhibai. When he saw Xia Zhibai arrive, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, with a hint of happiness and a bit of pride. He raised his head slightly, like a victorious general showing off his glorious military achievements.

Xia Zhibai came to see the emperor.

Zhu Biao waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "Get up."

"I called you here this time to tell you something."

"After more than a month of hard work, I have won the approval of His Majesty for some of the ideas you proposed."

"Although Your Majesty has not said much openly, he has tacitly agreed that I should make some changes to the world. You are right. The Ming Dynasty cannot only be compared with the times of war, but should be compared with those prosperous times. The Ming Dynasty must catch up with them, and even surpass them."

"I have decided to appoint you as the Prince's tutor, responsible for the relevant affairs of the Eastern Palace."

"Are you willing to give me some advice?"

Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai with an earnest smile on his face.

He didn't think Xia Zhibai would refuse. After all, bringing the greatest change to the world was what Xia Zhibai had always strived for. Now, not only had he fulfilled Xia Zhibai's wish, but he had also entrusted him with an important task. Although Xia Zhibai didn't have to shed tears of gratitude to him, he would definitely be very excited.

However, to Zhu Biao's surprise, Xia Zhibai remained very calm.

This made Zhu Biao frown.

Xia Zhibai cupped his hands and said respectfully, "I am grateful to Your Highness, but I am afraid I am not up to the task. I admire Your Highness' efforts and am grateful to him on behalf of millions of people in the world. However, it is inappropriate for Your Highness to appoint me as the Prince's tutor."

"I am only a fifth-rank official now, while the Crown Prince's tutor is a third-rank official."

“The span is so large that it doesn’t fit.”

"No rules no standards."

"I advocate rules, how can I abolish them myself?"

"Moreover, what Your Highness is looking for now is not civil officials, but some military officers and officials who can do the hard work, or even the dirty work, for Your Majesty. In addition, if Your Highness wants to start with the economy first, I am not optimistic about this."

Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai deeply and asked in a serious tone, "What do you mean?"

"I gave you a promotion, but you're still not happy about it?"

Xia Zhibai shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't like it, but this position should be promoted to someone who needs it. I'm a civil servant and can't do too many hard jobs. The vast majority of hard jobs will be done by other officials. As the saying goes, no merit, no reward. I haven't done anything yet, so how dare I ask for promotion?"

"If Your Highness really wants to promote me, you can make some achievements and then ask Your Majesty for credit on my behalf based on my contributions." Zhu Biao waved his hand and said, "Forget it, since you insist on not taking it, I will do as you say. But what do you mean by doing hard work? Shouldn't I start with the economy first? You have always said that the economy is the lifeblood of the country. If you control the economy, you control the key to the life and death of the country."

Xia Zhibai nodded, then shook his head.

He said in a deep voice: "This sentence is correct, but not entirely correct."

"For Your Majesty, who holds real power in the world, this statement is absolutely correct. But for Your Highness, Your Highness cannot do so many things. You don't even have enough prestige to promote some things."

"Your Highness thinks highly of me, so I will make plans for you first. Your Highness' first priority is to improve your popularity!"

"Everyone knows that moving a tree establishes trust."

"Many people also think that the reason why Shang Yang's reform was successful was because Shang Yang took out real money to reward the people, thus laying a good foundation for the popularization of Qin law in Qin. However, anyone who has read a little more knows that this is just the initial credibility."

"The Qin law was truly established by killing people."

"Killing an old noble, punishing the crown prince of Qin, etc., really achieved 'rewarding without neglecting the distant, punishing without favoring the close nobles'. It was also through this series of events that the prestige of Qin law was thoroughly established. If your Majesty wants to make changes to the world, there is no need to do this."

"But your highness is different."

"Your Highness does not have enough prestige in the world."

"It depends largely on your Majesty's reputation."

"With His Majesty's ambiguous attitude, Your Highness's prestige is not enough to carry out many things. At least many officials will pretend to obey, and many people will also have doubts. Your Highness must first establish your own popularity."

"Let all officials believe in your determination, and let the people believe in your sincerity."

"This way, Your Highness will be able to do things smoothly in the future."

Zhu Biao was silent for a while.

Finally he nodded.

He is indeed famous both inside and outside the court, but whether this reputation is accumulated by himself or created for him by local officials because of his status as crown prince is indeed a big question mark.

Zhu Biao asked: "In your opinion, what should I do?"

"Murder!" Xia Zhibai raised his head and stated the method in concise words.

Zhu Biao's expression changed slightly.

He looked at Xia Zhibai coldly and said unhappily, "Xia Zhibai, what nonsense are you talking about? I want to make some changes to the world, but I won't rely on killing people to establish my credibility and prestige. I believe my reputation has not reached that level yet."

Xia Zhibai shook his head and said with a smile: "The killing I am talking about is different from the killing that Your Highness understands."

"Your Highness needs to make his position clear to the world."

"Killing people is the best way to establish your authority and credibility."

"But when I say killing, I don't mean killing for no reason. I mean killing those who should be killed and those who the world will applaud. In this way, Your Highness can select a group of useful officials from the world."

"Who do you want to kill alone?" Zhu Biao looked at Xia Zhibai with a vigilant look, "Who should be killed?!"

"As the saying goes, we must first stabilize the country before we can resist foreign aggression."

"Your Highness, you don't have to worry about fighting against foreign enemies, but you must also consider maintaining domestic stability first."

"Your Majesty's peace at home means peace in the world, and your Highness's peace at home means peace in the world, but the Ming Dynasty is not at peace. The ruffians and bullies since the Yuan Dynasty are still entrenched in the local areas and are doing evil to the world. These are the people your Highness wants to kill!"

(End of this chapter)