Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 152 The Light of Justice! It’s all thanks to your majesty’s wisdom!
Horse-drawn carriages rumbled along the street.

Inside the carriage, Zhu Yunhuan was resting with his eyes closed.

When he received news that a group of royal relatives went to the Taxation Commissioner to argue with Zhu Gaoxu, and were all locked up and thrown into prison by the angry brat, he immediately decided to leave the palace and go to the Imperial College.

Speaking of which, Zhu Yunhuan had never been to the Imperial College.

But precisely because he has never been there, others would not think of him and it would be difficult to find him in a short period of time.

That's right.

Zhu Yunhuan just went out to hide from people.

If there are people in the world who are the most difficult to deal with, the aunts and uncles must be one of them.

Even though he is now the crown prince and regent, the most powerful person in the entire Ming Dynasty besides Zhu Yuanzhang, it is still the same.

For example, what would happen if the prince consort Ouyang Lun was arrested and Princess Anqing came running to him and started crying, making a fuss, and even threatening to hang herself?
Zhu Yunhuan felt overwhelmed just thinking about it and decided to hide first.

It is impossible to make concessions.

The reason is very simple. If we really want to open a "back door" for the son-in-law and let him not pay commercial taxes, then the entire commercial tax reform will be scrapped.

The city of Jinling has a population of over a million, which seems like a lot on the surface.

But there are at least hundreds of royal relatives in Jinling City.

The imperial concubine's family, the prince's family, the county prince's family, the imperial concubine, the prince consort... and many noble in-laws...

As for relatives who are a little more distant, there are even more of them, probably thousands of them.

If we allow these people to do business without paying taxes, then there would be no need to collect any business taxes at all.

Anyway, they are all doing big business, and together they basically monopolize half of the market in Jinling City.

This is also the most troublesome thing about reform.

If we want to reform, we have to start with our own people.

On the one hand, officials advocated "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans", defining merchants as the lowest-status group, and on the other hand, they opposed raising business taxes.

why?

Because commercial tax is a kind of "equal tax".

As long as you pass the imperial examination and gain fame, you can be exempted from land tax and farm tax.

But commercial taxes are different.

Theoretically speaking, no matter what your status or position is, no matter how high your official position is, you cannot be exempted from commercial taxes.

The officials' own servants, who run their business, are the main group of people who pay commercial taxes.

Of course, we strongly oppose raising business taxes.

This is why commercial taxes are difficult to collect.

On the surface, the businessmen who appear to be of the lowest status actually have a group of the most powerful people standing behind them.

But for Zhu Yunhuan, he was determined to make reforms, and commercial tax was a good entry point.

This is a good opportunity to establish the idea that everyone has to pay taxes, and even aristocrats are not exempt from tax.

Now the higher those royal relatives jump, the greater the warning significance and impact will be.

The premise is that you must withstand the pressure!
Withstand the pressure from all the relatives!
Zhu Yunhuan gave this glorious and arduous task to Zhu Gaoxu without hesitation.

In the adult world, one must abide by the ways of the world, no matter how high one's status or position is. Even if one becomes an emperor, one cannot escape this.

Unless you are truly a heartless and unrighteous person.

But then, ordinary people can do it too.

However, it is easier said than done. How many people in the world can do it?

Do you really want to cut off all family ties?
Although Zhu Gaoxu was young, as an extremely smart teenager, he was not completely ignorant.

However, how can the ways of the world compare to maintaining the "justice" that one firmly holds in one's heart!

This was the moral education Zhu Di received from childhood to adulthood.

This is the "light of justice" in a child's heart!
Especially since he has the power to do "real business" at this moment.

Do things that only adults could do in the past.

At this moment, the naughty kid has become the embodiment of upholding justice and the dignity of the Ming Dynasty's laws.

At this moment, the naughty kid calls himself "Judge Bao of the Ming Dynasty", impartial and incorruptible, and does not recognize any relatives!
At this moment, whoever dares to let the naughty kid show favoritism will fight with him to the death.

……

As someone who had all grown up as children himself, Zhu Yunhuan knew children’s psychology very well.

Especially a fearless and daring kid like Zhu Gaoxu.

Unless Zhu Di came out of the Ming Military Academy at this moment, showed his father's majesty and forcefully suppressed the naughty child.

Otherwise, this naughty kid who is possessed by heroic ideas will definitely kill anyone who stands in his way!
He can turn his back on any relative.

Zhu Yunhuan silently gave a thumbs up to the naughty kid in his heart.

Then, hide yourself first.

Of course, it's not just about hiding from people.

If that were the case, he should go to a place where no one knew.

This time when he went to the Imperial College, Zhu Yunhuan had another plan in mind, and it was time to put it into practice.

……

Outside the city of Jinling, the imperial palace.

After Zhu Yuanzhang officially appointed Zhu Yunhuan as the crown prince, he moved to a temporary palace outside the city.

Compared with the magnificent, tall and majestic imperial palace built by filling the lake, the palace outside the city is actually more suitable for living.

Now that I no longer care about government affairs and focus on my retirement, it is natural that I still prefer to live comfortably outside.

Of course, Lao Zhu is not completely indifferent to worldly affairs.

On the contrary, Jinyiwei spies and inspectors still reported news to him every day.

It's not easy to let go of something you've been worrying about for a lifetime.

Especially now that the crown prince has just been appointed.

Although Zhu Yunhuan had been doing a good job, Old Zhu was still worried that he would make mistakes.

"What? Hun'er only spends half an hour every day handling government affairs?"

Inside the pavilion in the mountains, Old Zhu's face suddenly changed when he heard the report.

"How can you be so lazy?"

"He pretended to be sick and ignored state affairs before. There were reasons for that, so it's understandable."

"But now that he is in good health and has been officially appointed as the crown prince, he should work diligently."

"You must know that the vast country is a heavy responsibility. If he doesn't deal with the memorial, how much state affairs will be delayed?" "No, this is absolutely not allowed."

"Someone, go tell Hu'er the order..."

Before Old Zhu finished speaking, the eunuch Ji Yuan beside him said softly: "Your Majesty, although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not have much time to handle state affairs, he has completed all the things that needed to be done without any delay, and there is nothing left unhandled."

Old Zhu was stunned for a moment, then said decisively: "Impossible!"

"I have been handling government affairs for many years, and I know how long it takes to read all the memorials every day."

"It's ridiculous to handle all the affairs of state in half an hour."

He stared at Ji Yuan with his dragon eyes: "You are also following suit and talking nonsense to deceive me? Do you really think I am old and confused?"

Ji Yuan knelt down immediately and said, "Your Majesty, I have absolutely no such intention."

"Every word this servant said is true."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince really only spends half an hour every day to handle all the government affairs of the day."

"What nonsense!" Old Zhu Longyan was furious, raised his trembling hand and pointed at him: "If you dare to say another word of nonsense, I will chop off your head!"

Yoshigaki didn't dare to make any more noise, he just knelt on the ground with his head down and didn't move.

Old Zhu stood up and paced back and forth: "Huer is smart, far better than ordinary people."

"But being too lazy can lead to bad consequences."

"I originally thought that after taking over the government, he would be diligent and hardworking due to the pressure. Now it seems that I was wrong."

"Hu'er is young after all, and he likes to play. Political affairs are heavy and boring, so it is common sense that he finds it difficult to persist."

"We can't stay in this palace any longer. We have to go back to the palace and supervise him. We have to urge him to be diligent in governing the country. We can't let him slack off any more."

Old Zhu ordered: "Send the order and return to the palace."

Ji Yuan responded quickly and stood up to pass on the imperial edict, but was suddenly stopped by Lao Zhu: "You just handled all the government affairs, what happened?"

He knew very well that state affairs could not be dealt with so quickly.

That's why Yoshigaki was so furious when he said that.

But at this moment, I still need to understand the specific details.

Yoshigaki was not someone who dared to deceive the emperor at will. Since he said that, there must be a reason behind it.

Could it be that everything was left to Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao to handle?

Although both of them are talented and capable enough to handle state affairs, how can the imperial power be entrusted to others casually?

Otherwise, Zhu Yuanzhang would not have abolished the prime minister and vowed never to appoint one again.

If the emperor does not personally manage state affairs and entrusts them to others, over time, power will fall into the hands of others and the country will change hands.

This was worse than just leaving the memorial there without dealing with it, he had to ask clearly.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has ordered the Ministry of Public Administration to compile a 'Daily Brief'..."

Yoshigaki recounted in detail the measures taken by Zhu Yunhuan.

How did the Tongzhengsi compile briefings and send them to Zhu Yunhuan for review and approval, and how did they verify the briefings with those from the Tantingsi to prevent omissions or false reports, etc.

After hearing what he said, Old Zhu was stunned.

Is there any other way to deal with this?

I have worked so hard every day for decades that my body is exhausted, but my grandson can achieve the same or even better results so easily?
Wouldn't it be like all the work I've done over the past few decades have been in vain?
Lao Zhu began to doubt his life!

"Do you... do you have the Daily Bulletin compiled by the General Secretary? We need to take a look!"

After being stunned for a while, Lao Zhu spoke.

"Yes!" Yoshigaki was ready.

Although the "Daily Brief" was originally only submitted to the Crown Prince, it must still be submitted if His Majesty the Emperor wants to read it.

Yoshigaki had anticipated that Zhu would ask, so he went to Zhu Yunhuan to ask for one.

At this moment, he quickly took it out from his pocket and presented it to him.

When Old Zhu took it and looked at it, the pupils in his dragon eyes suddenly dilated.

He had been handling state affairs for decades and was very familiar with them. When he looked at the compilation in the briefing, he could immediately match it with the content of the memorial in his mind.

It is indeed concise and clear at a glance.

The memorials that used to take an hour to review are now compiled into briefings and can be read at a glance.

So simple and so easy!
In this way, no matter how many memorials there are, they can all be processed in a very short time.

Whoops!

The mountain breeze blows.

Old Zhu took the briefing and slowly sat down.

He looked a little dazed and at a loss.

What on earth have I been busy with in my life?

It is something that can be done in a few minutes, but I am busier than a donkey pulling a mill, with endless worries and work to do.

Even so, there are still occasional omissions.

To do this, I had to post notes all over the room.

Why didn’t I come up with such a good idea at the beginning?

This will save so much trouble!
It doesn't take much effort to handle state affairs by reading these briefings!
pity.

Youth can never be regained, time can never be reversed.

At this moment, Old Zhu was overwhelmed with mixed feelings, and all kinds of emotions surged into his heart.

He suddenly remembered the saying "Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish."

Isn’t this the method used by my grandson?
But what about yourself?

I am getting old and have been busy all my life, but I have never thought of...

"Your Majesty, I feel that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was able to come up with such a clever idea because he was inspired by Your Majesty." Yoshigaki observed the man's expression and spoke cautiously in a low voice.

"Where did you get this from?" Old Zhu asked after coming back to his senses from his daze.

"In my opinion, the small pieces of paper that Your Majesty wrote down from the contents of the memorial are similar to the Daily Brief compiled by the Ministry of Public Administration at the order of His Majesty the Crown Prince!"

Yoshigaki flattered, "I think His Royal Highness must have been inspired by the little note written by Your Majesty to come up with the idea of compiling a briefing."

"If not, I'm afraid His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wouldn't be able to come up with such a clever solution."

"In the final analysis, all this is due to your Majesty's wisdom!"

……

(End of this chapter)