Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 277 Punishment, the foundation of power!

There was a long silence.

Zhu Yunxun continued to ask: "Among those who followed the order, there should be someone who knew that this matter was intended to deceive me, right?"

"Yes!" Yang Rong said, "There are more than a dozen other people who also know about it."

Zhu Yunhuan said coldly: "Anyone who knows about this will be demoted three levels, and this matter will be recorded as a major offense. This will be used as an important reference for future promotions, transfers, and redeployments."

Since these people knew that this matter was directed at them, they should have reported it instead of colluding with each other to deceive themselves.

There are only two possibilities for them not reporting it.

First, they thought it was a trivial matter. It didn't matter if they kept it a secret beforehand about presenting a woman to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. They didn't think it was a big deal, so they didn't report it.

Second, they only knew to be loyal to Yao Guangxiao, but not to the imperial court, let alone to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Whether it is the former or the latter, it shows that they lack reverence in their hearts. If they are not punished, they will probably commit the same mistake again.

Others will follow suit, and this will bring a bad atmosphere to the court.

But they were acting on orders after all, and there were reasons for what they did, so what they did was not anything harmful to the world.

The punishment must be severe enough to shock everyone, but also moderate.

Therefore, Zhu Yunhuan punished them by demoting them by three levels and keeping a record of their actions in the archives.

What role it will play after it is recorded in the archives depends on their future performance.

If a person commits a similar crime again, it means that he has not changed despite repeated warnings. The next punishment will only be more severe, which also means that this person is no longer useful.

If he can learn from this lesson, know what the red line is, know who he should be loyal to, and never make mistakes again, then he may not be a person who is not malleable.

This is the role of archives.

You can clearly see a person's past, and even more so, you can see the changes in that person's thoughts and actions.

For the imperial court to employ people, this kind of transformation is often the real key.

"As for you four masterminds."

Zhu Yunxun's tone paused.

How to punish their four close confidants is the most difficult task and also the most important one.

He paused, glanced at Yang Rong, and said, "Yao Guangxiao, Yang Shiqi, Xia Yuanji, and Yang Rong, the four of you, colluded to set up a trap to deceive me. You are hereby stripped of your original ranks immediately, and from today on, you will all be demoted to the ninth rank."

"Everything you do will be recorded and will never be deleted. Considering that you have been quite capable in the past, your positions will remain unchanged and you will continue to take up your original duties to see how you perform."

The position remains unchanged, but the rank is downgraded to the lowest ninth rank. This is the best solution Zhu Yunhuan can think of at the moment.

The power crisis hidden behind this incident is a long-standing tradition of feudal dynasties and is not their fault.

It is probably not an easy task to change this tradition and stop the ministers from asking about the emperor's "privacy" or which woman the emperor slept with.

The paradox here is that since it is a family empire, the person in power must ensure that he has offspring and successors.

Otherwise, no one below will feel at ease.

Since they want to have offspring, the ministers will care about and inquire about the "privacy" of their superiors.

Moreover, their concern is natural and justified.

If Zhu Yunhuan forcibly ordered that no court officials were allowed to ask questions and no confidants were allowed to "care", I'm afraid an uproar would immediately arise.

Of course, if Zhu Yunhuan already had two or three sons now, then no one might care which woman he slept with or whether he slept with a woman at all.

For example, he is now the crown prince, and old Zhu is also very old.

Nowadays, no minister would interfere if Zhu wanted to favor a certain woman.

It was not that they did not dare to offend Zhu Yuanzhang's emperor, but because Zhu Yuanzhang already had many sons and clear successors, so the ministers did not need to worry about this anymore.

On this issue, even someone as high and mighty as the emperor is nothing more than a ruthless "reproduction tool."

Only after completing the task of reproduction can the ministers below feel at ease.

Otherwise, all the officials in the court would be worried.

The more trusted the person is, the more so.

Just like in later societies, the ones who force people to get married the most are precisely their own parents and relatives.

Strangers don’t care whether you get married or have children.

Unexpectedly, even if he traveled back to ancient times, became the crown prince, and possessed almost supreme power, he still could not escape the fate of being "forced to marry".

From the perspective of Yao Guangxiao, Yang Shiqi, Xia Yuanji and others, including Yang Rong in front of them, it was out of their "loyalty" to themselves that they took so much pains to make such arrangements.

Therefore, even after being exposed, Yang Rong still talked to him freely, because he did not think that he and others had made a big mistake in arranging such an event.

Until Zhu Yunhuan got angry...

They must be punished so that they know their bottom line and dare not commit the same offense again, but it cannot be too severe or people will think that they are inhumane. The balance in this area must be struck properly.

Demoting the official rank without demoting his position was the appropriate solution he came up with.

It can serve the purpose of severe warning without harming the root cause.

Also, the roles played by Xu Miaojin and Gu Panjun in this matter are probably not as simple as they seem.

……

Zhu Yunxun sighed inwardly, and then continued: "Also, go tell them that this is my bottom line and I will never allow it to happen again."

"Otherwise, if they take advantage of their status as my confidants and think they are doing this for my own good, and dare to deceive me and interfere with my actions again, then don't blame me for being ruthless."

"By then, no matter how reluctant I am, I will have no choice but to follow Prime Minister Zhuge's example and execute Ma Su with tears in my eyes."

……

Yang Rong's heart trembled.

Zhu Yunhuan’s punishment was certainly not light.

It seems that what they did really touched the bottom line of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Right.

The most taboo thing for those in power is for the people below to collude with them to deceive them.

If it weren't for the fact that they were well-intentioned, loyal, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's confidants and capable of doing things, he would have dealt with them like this.

If it were someone else, the punishment would only be more severe.

Of course, only they, who are so trusted, would make such "arrangements" for Zhu Yunhuan. Others would neither dare nor do so.

For those who did not want Zhu Yunhuan to be the crown prince or emperor, they hoped that Zhu Yunhuan would have no descendants, and only then would they not arrange any women for him.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I will never dare to do that again." Yang Rong thanked him quickly and said, "I will convey your advice to you truthfully."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly.

I began to reflect on my mistakes in my heart.

There are two reasons behind this.

One is the interference of ministers in the emperor’s personal affairs, especially matters between men and women.

This is a tradition that has been passed down through the dynasties and cannot be changed overnight.

If you really want to change, you should wait until the time is right instead of acting rashly.

You must not directly order me to stop asking about my future marriage, whether I will find a woman, and what kind of woman I will find...

This will only lead to opposition from the whole court.

Including his own confidants, there will be strong opposition.

But this one must change.

This was not simply because Zhu Yunhuan did not like others interfering in his marriage, but because of power. Interfering in the private affairs of superiors seemed to be for the sake of the court, but in fact, it was also a great power.

Ministers can use this to "arrange" the emperor, which is an invisible power.

Since ancient times, hasn't it been believed that civil officials "control" the emperor through this rule?
If Zhu Yunhuan wanted to truly monopolize power, he had to fundamentally change this situation so that he could decide his own marriage as he pleased instead of being manipulated and controlled.

This matter cannot be rushed, we can only do it step by step.

Another reason is that the people under him seem to be from the same faction.

There is no dispute or conflict between them.

The advantage of doing this is that everyone can work together, put their efforts in the same direction, and think in the same direction, and it is easy to become united.

But the disadvantages are also obvious.

That is, when encountering any problem, the people below may discuss and decide on their own without the permission of the superiors.

Since ancient times, emperors have often adopted the method of divide and rule when controlling people.

If all the important officials in the court were to get along harmoniously with each other, they would pose a serious threat to the emperor's power.

Disharmony between generals and ministers, and factional disputes, would be reprimanded by the emperor.

But in fact, the emperor was very happy to see this scene.

Sometimes he would deliberately instigate conflicts among his ministers.

This is the art of power and the way to control people.

In many cases, the factional struggles in the court were the result of the emperor's deliberate indulgence or even instigation.

Even the wise Zhu Yuanzhang explicitly told Zhu Yunhuan that there were two forces in his court: the Huaixi nobles headed by his fellow villagers and the Zhejiang Party group headed by literati such as Liu Bowen.

The opposition and struggle between them were due to their natural differences in interests, but also to Zhu's guidance and instigation.

Although Liu Bowen, the leader of the Zhejiang Party Group, is dead and Hu Weiyong, the leader of the Huaixi nobles, was also killed by Zhu, the court structure of the two political forces of literati and military generals in opposition has not changed.

The princes appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang were the third powerful force in the Ming Dynasty court.

Only when the three forces balance and restrain each other can the emperor coordinate and hold power.

Zhu Yunhuan understood this principle.

However, in his opinion, he only had so few trusted men under him, so there was no need to divide them into factions.

Only by uniting as one can we accomplish great things
But now it seems that his power is gradually becoming a reality, and he must cultivate different political factions under his command.

Otherwise, similar incidents may happen again in the future.

It has nothing to do with who he employs.

No matter who is employed, as long as there is harmony among the people and no sharp and fierce conflicts, they can discuss and decide things on their own without asking for instructions from their superiors.

Only when the lower levels fight and restrain each other do they need the higher level to make decisions.

Any attempt by either party to act alone will be stopped by the other.

This incident is a wake-up call.

Cultivating trusted forces among different factions must be put on the agenda.

Zhu Yunhuan began to plan in his mind that the nobles and he were one, but since he came to power, he had always put the nobles aside and did not use them.

The reason, of course, is that the people in the noble group are too difficult to control.

Especially when one's prestige is not enough.

But as time went on, his power was established, and he should try to recruit some nobles.

Let everyone check and balance each other.

In addition, there are new army generals trained by the Ming Military Academy.

Including Zhang Fu, Zhu Neng, and more student generals.

However, these people mainly focus on military aspects.

The "scientific" faction is also a powerful force, and there are many people among them who admire themselves.

It’s just that those people may be more suitable for doing “technical” things.

Of course, it may not be impossible to promote a few technical and expert officials among them.

The rest included people who supported Fang Xiaoru's new Ruxue and those who were previously won over in the Huang Zicheng case.

……

By this calculation, I still have quite a few people I can use.

Moreover, they are from different factions and have different interests, so they will fight and restrain each other.

But at the same time, they are all loyal to themselves.

Only in this way can one's power and position be truly as stable as Mount Tai.

After some thought, Zhu Yunhuan felt relieved.

Seeing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not say anything, Yang Rong hurriedly said, "Miss Gu is just following our arrangements. She is just a country girl, not an official in the court. She has no power or influence. How dare she disobey us?"

"This is not her fault. I hope Your Highness will not vent your anger on her."

Zhu Yunhuan turned his head and saw that Gu Panjun next to him had his head lowered, with tears in his eyes, like pear blossoms in the rain, which made him look extremely pitiful.

He couldn't help but smile and said, "Of course I know about this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked Miss Gu to ride in the carriage with me."

As soon as these words were spoken, Gu Panjun's originally dejected expression suddenly changed.

A hint of joy rose on her pretty face, accompanied by a blush.

The originally loving tears instantly turned into a bright moon, moving and eye-catching.

This change in expression is unique.

Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help but secretly marvel at it.

There are tens of thousands of people in the world, but in reality, only one in ten thousand can manage their expressions well.

People show different expressions when they cry, laugh, feel sad, happy or unhappy.

But most of the time, people's expressions don't change much. Dull and sluggish are the daily expressions of most people.

Sometimes my smiles seem forced, and so do my tears.

Or the expression is particularly exaggerated.

It doesn't look like a very good feeling.

That’s why drama schools offer special courses on facial expression management.

But even so, most professional actors can only achieve average performance.

Many people often criticize him for his poor acting skills.

Only some veteran actors with superb professional skills can interpret the true spirit of the characters.

However, Gu Panjun in front of him seemed to have no such worries at all.

When she smiles, she is like blooming mountain flowers; when she cries, she is like pear blossoms in the rain; when she is calm, she is like the warm spring breeze; when she rejects people, she is like the bright moon in the sky, which can be seen from afar but not touched.

When you are sad, it is like falling flowers; when you are happy, it is like green buds sprouting, filling the world with spring.

All kinds of expressions and movements come naturally and effortlessly.

Just thinking about the fact that this girl had great ambitions, Zhu Yunhuan's heart suddenly moved slightly.

……

(End of this chapter)