Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 325: Power is the best aphrodisiac! Imperial decree!
early morning.

It's just dawn.

The Big Ben high up in the city of Jinling rang a resounding bell.

With the development of Ming Dynasty's industry, the profession of night watchman gradually withdrew from the stage of history.

Instead, there is a clock tower that can be seen when you look up.

The homes of the nobility and the rich all use complex and sophisticated clocks.

If you look down at the city of Jinling from the sky, you will find that today's Jinling is like a huge construction site with projects under construction everywhere.

With the sponsorship of the journal Science, the Ming Dynasty made considerable progress in mathematics and physics, and promoted the rapid development of architectural technology.

The architects of the Ming Dynasty began to try to perform complex force analysis and mathematical calculations in order to design and build buildings with larger spans and greater grandeur.

The widespread use of cement and steel has greatly promoted this.

Early in the morning, Zhu Yunhuan was in the palace, studying the design drawings of the new palace.

In his previous life, he had fantasized about what he would do if he became an emperor.

After thinking about it, I finally found that it can't escape two words - beauty!
Having three thousand beauties in the harem has always been the ultimate fantasy of countless men.

When the opportunity really came, Zhu Yunhuan was surprised to find that he was not that lustful.

Now, he has gradually gotten rid of the bad habit of staying up late and has slowly developed the habit of getting up early.

The main reason, of course, is that there are no temptations from mobile phones, computers, games, etc.

However, if you only rely on lighting candles to watch beautiful women singing and dancing, no matter how many candles you light, the light is still dim, and you can't see clearly, which is not satisfying.

This made Zhu Yunhuan, who had high demands, somewhat dissatisfied.

As for doing something happier and more exciting...after being satisfied, all I want to do is fall into a deep sleep.

So, the bad habit of staying up late that I had developed in my previous life was cured just like that.

The once strong desire for beauty gradually faded away as the desire was fully satisfied.

Although I still cannot do without it every day, I have put more energy into other aspects.

For example, how to govern a country, or how to build a house you like.

It seems that being a diligent king is not that difficult.

After all, power is the best aphrodisiac.

Power can make people obsessed, make people sink, and make people want to work diligently.

This is a completely different experience from working as a wage earner where you are controlled and manipulated by others.

Zhu Yunhuan began to understand why Old Zhu could work like a workhorse, reviewing memorials and handling state affairs day and night.

In contrast, those emperors of later generations who were lazy and ignored state affairs, almost without exception, did so because their imperial power was restricted by their ministers, and they could not enjoy the pleasure that power brought them. Instead, they felt uncomfortable everywhere and gave up on themselves.

"We need to make some more adjustments here..." Zhu Yunhuan pointed to a place on the design drawing and explained in detail.

Dozens of architectural designers and craftsmen gathered in the room, listening attentively, holding a pen and a notebook in their hands, taking notes from time to time.

Your Majesty is truly a genius, unprecedented in history.

The plans and design styles he proposed were all things that those of them who had been working in architecture all their lives had never heard of before.

Just a brief explanation will benefit them greatly.

Zhu Yunhuan was also filled with emotion.

No wonder history books always say that the emperor’s construction of large palaces was an extremely wasteful and extravagant act.

In this era without large-scale machinery, the cost of building a palace is really too high.

Ten taels of silver can support a family's living expenses for a year.

If it were an extremely poor lower-class family, they wouldn't spend that much in a year.

But one hundred thousand taels of silver was still far from enough to build a palace.

What concept?
Even if the money of ten thousand households without food or drink for a year is not enough to build a palace, it would require one hundred thousand or even several hundred thousand households!
This is just a palace!
But building a new imperial palace is much more than just a palace.

One can imagine the enormous amount of manpower, material resources and financial resources consumed.

However, although the palace designed by Zhu Yunhuan was several times larger than the original palace.

However, thanks to the development of Ming Dynasty's industrial technology, construction costs actually decreased.

First of all, the amount of iron and copper needed for construction has been greatly reduced due to the improvement of smelting technology.

The cost of transporting wood and stone also decreased due to the construction of roads and the improvement of transportation.

The same is true for glassware, ceramic objects, and even various types of furniture needed in the palace.

Coupled with improvements in construction methods and technology…

In short, Zhu Yunhuan has used various engineering technologies to the greatest extent possible to reduce the construction costs.

Of course, all the necessary luxury is present, and the cost is also very high.

Fortunately, Ming Dynasty now has a relatively mature financial system to support it and is not short of money, so the project can continue.

If we were based on the original fiscal revenue, it would not be built anyway.

The financial resources simply cannot support it!

In addition, the smooth construction is also inseparable from the development of Science journal.

This academic journal that he inadvertently promoted really gave him so many surprises.

The architects and craftsmen who came here today are all people who have submitted articles to Science journal.

We study and discuss together, generating countless sparks of wisdom.

As a result, Science Journal has a new sub-journal - Architecture.

Architects and skilled craftsmen wrote down their own architectural experiences in articles, published them in "Architecture", and exchanged them, which promoted the rapid development of Ming Dynasty's architectural level.

You know, although traditional residential architecture has a history of thousands of years, reinforced concrete has only just appeared, and a lot of experience is still being explored.

The emergence of the journal "Architecture" has undoubtedly helped many people avoid many detours.

The architectural experience gained from building the palace will also be promoted and applied to the public in the future.

After finishing his story with them, they discussed with each other for a while until the sun had risen high, around mid-morning, when Zhu Yunhuan left the place and walked towards the court.

After he ascended the throne, he changed the daily court meetings of Zhu Yuanzhang's era to once every ten days.

The grand court meeting actually did not have much significance. The most important point was to strengthen the supremacy of imperial power and the emperor's status in the hearts of officials through solemn and dignified rituals.

This is a subtle influence that will slowly seep into people's hearts.

Just like the architecture of a palace, it is always so magnificent and majestic.

The purpose is to create a sharp contrast between the hugeness of the building and the smallness of human beings, so as to strengthen the psychological supremacy of imperial power.

But everything has a process of getting used to.

If it happens too frequently, people will gradually get used to it and no longer take it seriously.

Therefore, Zhu Yunhuan changed it to once every ten days.

Unless there are special circumstances, the grand court meeting will not discuss any further matters and will only go through a ceremonial process.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't believe that, apart from directly conveying orders in person, a meeting could really be used to discuss any national affairs.

Unless there were middle or lower-level officials who could not normally see the emperor, they would take advantage of the opportunity of the grand court meeting to complain to the emperor in person.

This is a rare situation and does not usually occur.

However, although there were fewer grand court meetings, Zhu Yunhuan was still very diligent in handling government affairs.

Power is fascinating.

In his previous life, he could only give advice on the Internet.

Now he can truly control a huge empire and influence the historical process of the entire Blue Star.

One word can change the world.

This feeling is more intoxicating than any beauty.

Zhu Yunhuan renamed the place where government affairs were handled as "Qinzheng Hall".

On the left side of the Qinzheng Hall is the Government Affairs Office, and on the right side is the Military Affairs Office.

The Minister of State and the Minister of War both have their offices here.

If you need any advice, please report it at any time.

It would be very convenient for Zhu Yunhuan to summon any one of them.

However, all the agencies under the Military Affairs Department and the Political Affairs Department were outside the palace.

It is still somewhat inconvenient to convey messages and summon people.

Zhu Yunhuan had taken this into consideration when designing the new imperial palace.

In the future, new office locations will try to integrate offices together.

He also adjusted his daily office hours from early in the morning to mid-morning.

This is to allow time for the Political Affairs Office and the Military Affairs Office to handle various matters.

Zhu Yunhuan had just arrived at the Qinzheng Hall when they had almost finished dealing with the memorials submitted from yesterday afternoon to this morning and the matters that needed to be handled.

At this time, if the ministers had anything they needed to ask for instructions, they would come forward to ask for it.

In this way, all political and military affairs of the court can be handled with the highest efficiency.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't want to hold too many court meetings.

In his opinion, if there is something to be studied and discussed, it needs to be discussed first, and a general idea needs to be formed before a meeting is held to decide. More often than not, meetings are just a formality.

Confucianism regards court meetings as more important than anything else. Its real intention is to use court meetings to shape public opinion and suppress the power of the monarch.

Just imagine, if the monarch summons a minister alone to discuss matters, it will be difficult for the minister to oppose the monarch and he will have to obey the monarch's will and implement the monarch's will.

On the other hand, if they were in the court, they would have the advantage of numbers and could encourage each other, make suggestions together, and put strong pressure on the monarch, and the situation would be reversed.

The importance of court meetings is reflected here.

In later generations, when the top leaders held a meeting, they would often first determine a meeting theme.

Before the meeting, have individual discussions and reach consensus.

When holding a meeting, limit the content of the meeting to the corresponding topic.

Any questions beyond the topic of the meeting will not be considered.

In this way, you can control the meeting process and control the overall situation.

But the court meetings of this era usually had no specific topic scope.

Anything can be discussed.

The ministers could even discuss and collude in advance, and then make suggestions to the emperor together during the court meeting!

Through this method of collective pressure, they can control the monarch and force the emperor to act according to their own will.

This is why ministers particularly like court meetings and hate emperors who do not hold court meetings or attend court.

It's not that they have so much energy that they have to torture themselves by holding court meetings.

In fact, they used court meetings to control the monarch, essentially seize the monarch's power, and realize their ideal ambition of "pacifying and governing the world."

In the past two years, Zhu Yunhuan has been thinking about the operation of power and has gradually seen through it all.

Therefore, when he came to the Qinzheng Hall to work and govern the country, he summoned all the ministers individually.

If we really need to call more people to discuss something, they should have specific things to do and limited topics, and not discuss other things.

When he arrived at the Qinzheng Hall, Zhu Yunhuan first looked at the summary of domestic and foreign intelligence submitted by the Intelligence Bureau and the Ming Intelligence Bureau, then read the "Military Intelligence Express" submitted by the Military Affairs Office, and the "Daily Briefing" submitted by the Political Affairs Office.

In the past, compiling the Daily Brief was the task of the Ministry of Public Security.

After the separation of military and political affairs, the Tongzhengsi was also divided into two.

Half was assigned to the Political Affairs Office, and the other half was placed under the Military Affairs Office.

Different from the original one, also submitted at the same time were the tentative suggestions of the Minister of War and the Minister of State for handling the matter.

Zhu Yunhuan glanced at it without writing any instructions.

Now that the Military Affairs Department and the Political Affairs Department have been established, they can issue documents in their own names and lead various tasks.

As the emperor, he didn't need to issue any instructions.

This is actually a good thing.

Firstly, without any instructions, the ministers of the Military Affairs Department and the Political Affairs Department were not sure whether he had read it carefully or knew about it...they could only handle it as if he knew everything.

On the contrary, if he said "I know", he would really read every document.

Otherwise, everyone would know which documents the emperor read and which he did not.

Secondly, if the emperor did not make any instructions, the opinions in the documents conveyed to the lower levels would only represent the opinions of the Military Affairs Department and the Political Affairs Department, rather than the emperor's edict.

If the lower level believes that something is wrong, it can continue to submit a memorial to explain itself, further clarify the situation, or request the emperor to handle it.

If the imperial edict is issued directly and there is a mistake, the people below will not dare to disobey it, and it may even lead to a bigger mistake.

Similar examples abound in history.

The Political Affairs Office and the Military Affairs Office are the institutions that oversee the leadership of civil and military ministers. Generally speaking, the officials below them dare not refute or disobey orders.

On the other hand, imperial edicts are not issued often, which can highlight their supreme status.

If there are no details and an imperial edict is issued at every turn, the emperor's edict will gradually lose its "authority".

Officials have received so many imperial edicts that they have become numb to them and no longer take them seriously.

General affairs were handled by the Government Affairs Office or the Military Affairs Office. Only when matters were extremely important would he, the emperor, issue instructions so that the people below could distinguish priorities.

In fact, in most matters, although Zhu Yunhuan issued orders to the Military Affairs Department or the Political Affairs Department, when he actually conveyed the instructions to the lower levels, he would deliberately conceal this point.

Documents and orders were only issued in the name of the Military Affairs Department or the Political Affairs Department, rather than in the form of imperial edicts.

This is also to allow more room for maneuver and take the political initiative.

If the people below were dissatisfied, they would curse the Military Affairs Office or the Political Affairs Office instead of cursing him as the emperor.

In this way, the conflict shifted to the Military Affairs Department and the Political Affairs Department, while his authority as emperor was maintained.

This is also an important reason why the Military Affairs Department and the Political Affairs Department were set up to oversee military and political affairs.

Of course, it was not a big deal, so Zhu Yunhuan did not give any instructions.

He is always available to intervene when needed.

Zhu Yunhuan flipped through the briefing in his hand and suddenly frowned slightly.

Both the Military Affairs Department and the Political Affairs Department were newly established and had a lot of affairs to deal with. The most important thing, of course, was to select suitable officials to take up their posts.

In particular, all the departments under the Military Affairs Department are newly established, and a large number of officials are required.

The top priority of the Government Affairs Office is the selection of governors and provincial inspectors.

These people are all important officials in the court, in charge of the affairs of a province, and each of them plays a vital role.

Zhu Yunhuan also kept a close eye on this.

Power, first of all, is the power over personnel, and then other things.

However, there was a matter of some importance today that caught Zhu Yunhuan's attention.

"Will the factories that manufacture weapons be placed under the jurisdiction of the Military Affairs Department?"

This was a proposal from the Military Affairs Department, and a lot of reasons were listed.

Such as making it easier to provide support to the army.

But Zhu Yunhuan quickly shook his head.

In his opinion, it was not a good idea to hand over the military factories directly to the army.

This is the same principle as the military cannot do business or farm and raise pigs.

However, military factories do have their own particularities.

After a brief thought, Zhu Yunhuan wrote: "The jurisdiction of the military factory remains unchanged, but the military is allowed to send personnel to the military factory to conduct supervision and inspection to ensure that the factory produces all kinds of weapons needed by the army."

"Whenever weapons leave the factory, in addition to the approval of the Administrative Office, they also need the permission of the military."

As he wrote this, he suddenly remembered another thing.

When the factories were first built, they were all located within a few dozen miles away from Jinling City for convenience.

Today, with the prosperity of finance and commerce and the development of industry, the place has become more and more prosperous and the population is growing.

If it is just producing guns and cannons, it is fine, but if it is producing ammunition... that thing is somewhat dangerous. If it is placed in densely populated areas of the city, it will be a major safety hazard.

If it explodes accidentally, the consequences will be disastrous.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunhuan wrote another instruction on it: "Immediately select a place far away from human habitation to build a warehouse to store ammunition."

“Warehouses should be built separately and strictly managed.”

"Ammunition stored in the suburbs of Nanjing should be moved as soon as possible."

"The place where the ammunition is stored must be heavily guarded."

"Also, existing ammunition factories should be relocated to remote areas, while production should be further expanded, more factories should be added, and attention should be paid to strengthening the security precautions of ammunition warehouses and factories."

After writing the approval document, Zhu Yunhuan immediately had it distributed to the Political Affairs Office and the Military Affairs Office.

……

Military Affairs Department.

Feng Sheng and several other military ministers were gathered in front of a huge map.

It shows the terrain and dynamics of the three Jurchen tribes, as well as the Ming army's attack routes and troop distribution.

Since the establishment of the Military Affairs Office, these people have been studying the battlefield situation between the Ming Dynasty and the three Jurchen tribes.

Every day, fast horses would deliver intelligence from the front line.

The Military Affairs Department will also continue to send relevant orders to the front line and remind people of things to pay attention to.

Although communications were severely delayed due to the long distance, much of the Military Affairs Department's analysis was strategic and was by no means completely useless.

After all, these people are all veterans who have been through many battles.

Their experience is certainly useful.

Just as they were absorbed in their analysis, the eunuch brought them the decree that Zhu Yunhuan had just issued.

"The military is sending personnel to enter the military factory?"

"Every time weapons leave the factory, besides the approval of the Administrative Office, they also need the permission of the military?"

"The ammunition factory was moved to a remote place with few people?"

Seeing this, Feng Sheng's pupils suddenly shrank and his body trembled for no reason.

……

(End of this chapter)