Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 915: A Righteous King
"Our Ming Dynasty is different from all previous dynasties. We are not a dynasty that is complacent. Because of my fifth brother, the vision of our Ming Dynasty is much higher than that of all previous dynasties. We cannot use the balance method of all previous dynasties to restrain the civil and military officials by cutting our own hands and feet." Zhu Biao said.

"...However, we cannot ignore the matter of great military merit. I have pondered for a long time and finally came up with this solution."

How to deal with the disagreement among civil and military officials in the court caused by the Shuixi incident was a consideration that Zhu Yuanzhang assigned to Zhu Biao.

Obviously, Zhu Biao did a very good job.

It was not the time for the Ming Dynasty to "maintain the status quo". Zhu's ambition had long been fed by Zhu Su's Kunyu Wanguotu. He wanted to take advantage of the Ming Dynasty's still strong momentum to establish a large territory for future generations. This pioneering national policy required the court not to adopt the balance method often used by other dynasties, that is, to consolidate the imperial power by constantly reducing the wings of the powerful party.

The expansion of the Ming Dynasty also requires the full support of the military heroes, who must always have the ambition to make progress. For this purpose, the enthusiasm of the military heroes to make achievements must not be discouraged.

However, the increasing domineering of military heroes and their pursuit of military merit and personal gain was undoubtedly a huge problem. Zhu Biao's "moral kidnapping" was a way to restrain the behavior of military heroes.

"But Biao'er, you want to use this 'Heroes' Temple' as a shackle to imprison these military merits... I'm afraid it's not enough." Old Zhu said.

"Even if we invite Master Song to endorse us, these kids are all meat-eating wolves... If we only rely on the empty promise of reputation, I'm afraid we won't be able to stop them."

"Do you have any backup plan?" Old Zhu's eyes were burning.

The vision of the Ming Dynasty was higher than that of previous dynasties, and the great achievements it wanted to accomplish were also incomparable. If we have to force a comparison, perhaps the Zhou Dynasty a thousand years ago is the most similar to the Ming Dynasty. The common point between the two is that they both adopted the "feudal system" and intended to open up territories through the method of enfeoffment and further expand the territory of China.

But the Western Zhou Dynasty was different from the Ming Dynasty. The Western Zhou Dynasty had a complete "Zhou Li" to constrain the princes. Although the rituals and music were broken during the Spring and Autumn Period, and the binding force of Zhou Li on the princes was gradually declining, it is undeniable that Zhou Li did form a strong constraint on the princes in the early days.

Even after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, because of the foundation laid by Zhou Li in the early period, no matter how powerful the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period or the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period were, they still did not dare to blatantly replace the Zhou emperor, but let the Zhou Dynasty continue to linger for hundreds of years...

The Zhou rituals played an indispensable role in the survival of the Zhou Dynasty.

However, the Ming Dynasty did not have a corresponding "Zhou Li". Although Zhu Su, Song Lian, Liu Bowen and others had achieved initial success in promoting the new learning, a large part of the theoretical basis of the new learning also came from the "Zhou Li". But after all, the new learning was still considered a Confucian academic discipline, and its influence and constraints were mostly reflected at the level of literati, and its influence on military generals was negligible.

The Ming Dynasty urgently needed a set of rules like the Zhou Li, which was not only a moral code for the whole society, but also a legal constraint on the princes in all directions.

Zhu Biao was naturally well aware of this, so in response to Zhu's question, he cupped his hands and said, "Father, I have another plan."

"I would like to petition the Emperor to change the way the Ming Dynasty calculates military merits and include 'defending the country and protecting the people' as the criterion for calculating military merits in the Ming Dynasty."

"From now on, anyone who defends the country and the people will be rewarded with merits, just like those who kill the enemy in battle and break through the enemy's formation by beheading. In the event of floods, earthquakes, etc., soldiers who participate in flood control and rescue will be rewarded."

"During the war, if there are acts of cruelty and harm to the people, even if the military achievements are glorious, they will not be counted. We should not only focus on reputation and morality, but also on military law. The two should work together to make our Ming Dynasty a truly benevolent and righteous army."

"Hmm..." Old Zhu nodded. Putting local garrisons into rescue and reconstruction for natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes was one of the reform routes for the garrison system proposed by Zhu Su a long time ago. Although it was a garrison, it could not only be used for fighting. The army was well organized and well obeyed, and it could be used for disaster relief, and its role was much greater than that of ordinary government offices.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the military merit being praised as "moral", changing the traditional way of commending merits for thousands of years, changing the first criterion for commending military merits to protect the people, and also giving the army, which was originally just a violent machine, the duty of disaster relief, this is indeed a good way to kill two birds with one stone. But...

"Changing the military law involves a lot of things. In comparison, the Temple of Heroes and the Book of the People are just minor matters... Are you sure?" Old Zhu narrowed his eyes and said to Zhu Biao.

"Even if you are not sure, I still want to give it a try." Zhu Biao's voice was still firm.

Hearing this, Old Zhu nodded with satisfaction. Seeing Zhu Biao act decisively and with an imperial demeanor made Old Zhu happier than anything else.

"In that case, you may go." Old Zhu said casually.

"Do as you please. If anything goes wrong, we'll back you up."

Changing military law is indeed a matter of great consequence, but he is still alive.

With him around, the Ming Dynasty will not be in chaos!
"Yes." Zhu Biao bowed respectfully. "Don't worry, father. I won't do anything rash. I will find the best opportunity to do it."

……

The opportunity that Zhu Biao mentioned did not come from waiting. After many years of being the regent, his political methods were no longer as immature as before. And because of Zhu Su's baptism, he was no longer a simple gentleman, but had his own thunderous methods.

"Your Highness." In the study of the Prince's Mansion, Jinyiwei commander Jiang Li bowed respectfully to Zhu Biao, and then listened to his instructions with his hands hanging aside.

"Jiang Li, this time the emperor has sent you to Guiyang to investigate the matter of Ma Ye forcing Shui Xi to rebel. Do you know what to do?" Zhu Biao put his hands behind his back, with his back to Jiang Li, his face hidden in the shadows, and his expression could not be seen clearly.

"Huh?" Jiang Lin was startled. Crown Prince Zhu Biao had always been upright and honest, and was regarded as a model of a benevolent monarch in the future. This was the first time Jiang Lin heard Zhu Biao's words contain hidden meanings.

However, due to Zhu Biao's usual style in the court, he thought for a while and said, "I understand... I will definitely find out the truth and handle the case impartially..."

"No." Before Jiang Li could finish his words, he was interrupted by Zhu Biao.

"What I want is not a fair judgment."

"No matter what the truth you have found out, whether Ma Ye intends to force Shuixi to rebel or not, it doesn't matter. What I want to know is that 'Ma Ye was eager to gain military merit and acted to deceive the emperor'."

"Do you...understand?"

(End of this chapter)