Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 24: Kill a few officials from the Ministry of Rites to liven up the party

Zhu Yuanzhang talked with Zhu Biao for a while longer, and finally had no choice but to have a frank exchange with Zhu Yunfeng.

No way.

This is an unanswerable question.

If you want to develop rapidly through future technology, you can't avoid Zhu Yunfeng.

Zhu Yunfeng has the power to choose to cooperate with them or not.

they do not.

Therefore, the underlying logic here is that the status of both parties was not stable from the very beginning, and it can even be said that Zhu Yuanzhang and his son were dispensable characters to the other party.

Without them, people's lives will not be affected. With them, people can make a profit from them.

But if they want to try to control Zhu Yunfeng and make him their slave, they have plenty of ways and means to do so.

The most direct strategy is to not cooperate, move the stone tablet, and pretend that they have never appeared. In this way, the initiative is naturally in the hands of Zhu Yunfeng, not in theirs.

Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang and others considered this matter, they could only sigh.

This descendant of the Zhu family seems to be too smart.

The most outrageous thing is that this problem was not actually thought of by Zhu Yuanzhang. He was used to being an emperor and giving orders. He instinctively wanted to point fingers at Zhu Yunfeng and never thought about the connection between the two.

It was not until Zhu Di was beaten by Zhu Yunfeng and then they were put in jail by Zhu Yunfeng, and after he came back, his attitude changed first, and he hinted at various win-win cooperation. Only after he found that he was powerless did Zhu Yuanzhang realize the problem.

Therefore, the logic here was hinted to him by Zhu Yunfeng. Everything about him was manipulated by Zhu Yunfeng, including putting him in jail and telling him how powerful modern power is. He couldn't fool him.

"So be it."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and said, "Today, that guy was still telling me that cooperation is beneficial to both sides. I think he also understands our situation. Let's not beat around the bush and just be straightforward with him. Once we get things straight, many things will be easier to handle."

"Ah."

Zhu Biao said, "Father, you must be hungry. I will ask the Shangshenjian to prepare food now."

"Your words reminded me to ask the Imperial Kitchen Supervisor to send it to your mother first."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "We are both grown men, so it's okay to be hungry. You didn't get enough rest last night, so go to sleep for a while. I'll go check the memorials and call you when the food is delivered by the Imperial Kitchen Supervisor."

"Thank you father."

Zhu Biao yawned and stood up from his chair.

It would have been better if Zhu Yuanzhang hadn't said anything. As soon as he started talking, he felt like he could hardly open his eyes and his head was dizzy. After all, he was just like Empress Ma. He hadn't slept all night and was always worried.

After watching Zhu Biao leave, Zhu Yuanzhang came out of the study, summoned Mao Xiang, and asked him to call Li Shanchang and Li Wenzhong.

For Zhu Yuanzhang, the day was actually quite regular. He would get up at four or five in the morning, wash up briefly, and then go to the Fengtian Gate to hold a morning court session.

After the morning court session, he would attend morning classes, read some books to increase his knowledge, or review a few memorials.

He would have breakfast around six or seven o'clock, and then prepare to summon some ministers to the Qianqing Palace to discuss policy issues and prepare everything to be discussed today.

From 7:00 to 11:00 in the morning, he basically meets with the heads of various departments, such as the left and right prime ministers, the left prime minister of the Secretariat, the grand governor of the Grand Marshal's Office, the director of the Ministry of Public Security, the six ministers, etc. The prince will be on the side to supervise the country and participate in politics.

He would rest for half an hour to an hour at noon, and then continue to summon ministers to meetings in the afternoon. He would take a walk around five in the evening or summon the prince for an examination.

After six or seven o'clock in the evening, he would still handle government affairs and review memorials until about ten o'clock. Then he would either go to chat with Empress Ma or sleep with the concubine who had been picked that day, and then go to bed around eleven or twelve o'clock.

He basically only sleeps five or six hours a day, but he is very energetic and can handle almost all government affairs. He can be said to be a typical workaholic.

But things have been different recently.

Because more than ten days ago, on September 24, Champa came to pay tribute, but Hu Weiyong and others did not report it to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry when he learned about this and scolded Hu Weiyong and others from the Secretariat.

Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang were the left and right prime ministers, and also the heads of the Secretariat. The Ming Dynasty was not yet in the cabinet period, but in the Secretariat period.

The Secretariat during this period was very powerful and was in charge of all national affairs. The Six Ministries were also under the jurisdiction of the Secretariat. The heads of the Secretariat, the left and right prime ministers, could be said to have great power over the government and the country, with the Left Prime Minister Hu Weiyong being second only to the emperor.

It was October in Daming, according to the lunar calendar. It was November in Zhu Yunfeng, according to the solar calendar. So it was just before the Hu Weiyong case broke out.

Now Hu Weiyong was reprimanded by Zhu Yuanzhang because of the incident of the Champa envoy. As a result, Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang pushed the responsibility to the Ministry of Rites. The Minister of Rites Zhu Mengyan said that it was a problem of the Secretariat and had nothing to do with him.

Both sides blamed each other, which made Zhu Yuanzhang even more angry, so he temporarily detained them without taking any action.

As usual, Zhu Yuanzhang would call the Left Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, the Right Prime Minister Wang Guangyang, the Duke of Xuan Li Shanchang, the Duke of Cao Li Wenzhong, the Minister of Public Administration Zeng Bingzheng, the Imperial Censor Chen Ning and the six ministers to the main hall of the Qianqing Palace to discuss today's government affairs.

But after the incident of Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang broke out, he never summoned them again, nor did he deal with them. Currently, he is the only one handling all the government affairs of the Secretariat.

Even when discussing government affairs, other ministers were called in, and Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang were pretended not to be there.

Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang did not hold on to this matter, but simply killed the officials involved in the Ministry of Rites, and released Hu Weiyong, Wang Guangyang and others a few days later.

But it was from this period that Zhu Yuanzhang began to become suspicious of Hu Weiyong and others.

So in December, Wang Guangyang was first sentenced to death. At the beginning of the 13th year of Hongwu, the first major case in the early Ming Dynasty, the Hu Weiyong case, began on the grounds that Hu Weiyong was treasoning.

Now is the time when Zhu Yuanzhang is imprisoning Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang. Zhu Yuanzhang may not have thought of dealing with the Left Prime Minister Hu Weiyong and the Right Prime Minister Wang Guangyang, and then abolishing the prime minister to strengthen central power.

It's just that he heard from Zhu Yunfeng that he would later kill Hu Weiyong and others, so he had some ideas.

soon.

About quarter of an hour later, Li Shanchang and Li Wenzhong came over.

One of these two people is currently the Prime Minister of the Secretariat, and the other is the Prime Minister of the Grand Marshal's Office, and they are nominally the highest political and military officials.

However, Li Shanchang was getting older and no longer cared about state affairs. Although he was nominally the highest official in the Secretariat, he did not interfere in specific affairs. Wang Guangyang was a person who went with the flow, so Hu Weiyong became more powerful in the Secretariat.

After the two came over, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting on the dragon throne in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace and reviewing memorials, stopped writing with his brush and looked down at the two people below.

They entered the hall, bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Your Majesty."

No kneeling. Because in December of the fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang, in view of the fact that "military and civilians still follow the customs of the barbarians in performing ceremonies, and kneel and bow as a courtesy when drinking at banquets", ordered the Secretariat and the Ministry of Rites to establish a ceremonial system for officials and civilians to bow and bow.

The responsible officials followed the order and established corresponding systems, so that "all foreign rituals were banned."

However, this is only the case in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, the rule maker. The lower-level officials still have to kneel when they see their superiors.

The reason is that Zhu Yuanzhang was born in the late Yuan Dynasty, when the Southern Song Dynasty had been destroyed for many years. He had never seen the etiquette of the Song people, but only saw the Mongols asking the Han people to kneel all the time. He thought it was natural, so he inherited the kneeling system of the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty.

When the Ming Dynasty was first established, the "Ming Hui Dian" stipulated that when the emperor and his ministers were discussing state affairs, "all officials must kneel when reporting on matters. They must stand up when ordered to do so."

Therefore, at the beginning, the Ming Dynasty still copied the kneeling ceremony of the Yuan Dynasty. However, in the fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang realized that before the Song Dynasty, subordinates did not need to kneel when meeting their superiors, so he changed it.

But the problem is that the kneeling ceremony has been deeply rooted for more than a hundred years since the Yuan Dynasty. In addition, the kneeling ceremony has been implemented in the Xin Dynasty for four years, and all officials have become accustomed to it. If it is changed again, the lower-level officials may be satisfied, but those higher-level officials who enjoy others kneeling will not be happy.

The result was that everyone abided by the rules in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, the rule maker. Except for particularly large sacrificial activities where kneeling was required, the rest of the time they just had to bow to Zhu Yuanzhang.

When it came to meeting lower-level officials, these high-ranking officials enjoyed the privilege of kneeling, and this bad habit continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

At this moment, the two of them bowed, and Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "No need to bow."

"His Majesty."

Li Wenzhong was Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew. After Zhu Yuanzhang said he didn't need to be polite, he immediately asked with concern: "I heard that there was a landslide outside the Qianqing Palace this morning. I hope your Majesty was not hurt."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "It's okay, it's just a small matter. Look, I'm fine, right?"

Li Wenzhong looked over. Although he was far away, he still saw Zhu Yuanzhang's panda eyes and bruises on his cheeks after being beaten by Zhu Yunfeng. He was horrified and asked, "Your Majesty, isn't there a wound on your body?"

Li Shanchang also looked at him in surprise.

"It's just a minor injury, nothing serious. It's nothing like the time when I was in life and death situation."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.

He knew that he would attract the attention of the two, so he immediately changed the subject and said, "Okay, let's not talk about this. I called you here today not to talk about government affairs, but because I have something else to discuss. Please sit down first."

There are chairs on both sides of the main hall because Zhu Yuanzhang usually required all officials to follow the etiquette of the Song Dynasty. When discussing matters in the Qianqing Palace, everyone would bow and salute, and Zhu Yuanzhang would ask them to sit down. Therefore, the armchairs were often set up to make it convenient for everyone to sit down and chat.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Shanchang and Li Wenzhong sat down, one on the left and one on the right.

After they sat down, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I asked you to come here because I want to talk about Hu Weiyong."

He pondered and said, "I heard that Hu Weiyong is domineering and arbitrary in the Secretariat. He reports state affairs when he wants to and does not report when he does not want to. He does not even take me, the emperor, seriously."

Li Shanchang was frightened by these words. He quickly stood up from his chair and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. Even if Hu Weiyong is very bold, he would never dare to do this. This time, the Ministry of Rites did not follow the rules. The Secretariat did not know about this at all. On weekdays, the ministers of state and Wen Zhong have been reviewing and commenting on this. In addition, many things have been sent to the Ministry of Public Administration, and many times they have directly bypassed the Secretariat. They are completely unaware of this."

"I see."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Then the blame lies with the Ministry of Rites. From the Minister of Rites on down, all officials involved should be executed. Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang should be released."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Li Shanchang was sweating profusely, but he still stood and did not dare to sit down.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Okay, sit down first. I won't talk about government affairs today. When you came in, you also saw the big pit outside. What do you think?"

Li Shanchang rolled his eyes and said, "The Ministry of Works cannot escape blame and should be held accountable. They should also repair the hole as soon as possible."

"Forget it, it has nothing to do with the Ministry of Industry."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and said, "This palace was built by me personally when I was the King of Wu. The Earl of Chengyi who presided over the construction has been dead for four years. What does it have to do with the current Ministry of Works?"

Many people say that Zhu Yuanzhang was bloodthirsty, but in fact he was quite reasonable when killing people.

For example, he killed officials from the Ministry of Rites because he felt that the Ministry of Rites had not done its job. It was their duty to receive the Champa envoys, and their failure to perform their duties led to a diplomatic incident, so they deserved to be killed.

In addition, Hu Weiyong had too much power as prime minister, and he wanted to strengthen the imperial power, so he fabricated the Hu Weiyong case.

The subsequent cases of the Empty Seal, Guo Huan and Lan Yu also had their own reasons. Either they felt their power was offended, or they wanted to kill corrupt officials, or they wanted to pave the way for their grandsons.

Now there is no reason to kill officials from the Ministry of Works.

Because the Nanjing Forbidden City was not built by the Ministry of Works, there was no Ministry of Works at that time. It was he who personally supervised the construction when he was the King of Wu, and Liu Bowen presided over the construction.

Although many buildings were built behind the imperial palace, the overall outline, including the Qianqing Palace, was built during his time. Now that Liu Bowen has been dead for more than four years, it is indeed outrageous to hold the current Ministry of Works accountable.

So since I'm in a good mood today, I'll kill a few officials from the Ministry of Rites to liven up the atmosphere, and I'll let the officials from the Ministry of Works go.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Li Shanchang knew how to protect himself, so he immediately followed the pole and said, "Then fill it up and repair it first."

"I think this pit is of great use if left there, so there is no need to repair it."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "I plan to repair it and build a small underground palace. I will ask the Ministry of Works to send someone to do it later."

"Yes."

Li Shanchang didn't dare to ask why Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to build an underground palace. He only knew that the emperor said so and he had to listen.

"Are there any other important events today? What's going on in Beiyuan?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.

"Your Majesty, today."

Li Shanchang and Li Wenzhong talked with Zhu Yuanzhang about the political and military issues that they were going to discuss today.

The meeting for the day was not over until the food was delivered by the Imperial Kitchen at noon.

(End of this chapter)