Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 67: Zhu's imperial skills!

"You broke into the mansion yesterday and arrested him. You made him come to the palace today to apologize for his crime. This was to save his life."

"We specially reward him today to fulfill your kindness."

"Let him be grateful to you in the future."

“But simply showing kindness is not enough.”

“People’s hearts change.”

"He may be grateful to you today, but there is no guarantee that he will not betray you tomorrow."

"You must have the ability to control him and make him dare not and cannot resist, so that you can hold this knife tightly."

"Take this opportunity to clip off some of Lan Yu's wings so that Lan Yu can be better used by you."

"This is not to weaken your foundation and power in the court, but to allow you to gain a better foothold and control the people below."

The wind blew through the pavilion, carrying the ups and downs of Lao Zhu's voice.

There is calmness in firmness.

He had never been misled by Huang Zicheng, even when he was in the hall just now, his emotions and mind were in turmoil.

Old Zhu is still planning quietly.

As a great man and the founding monarch of a country, he had experienced so many ups and downs, joys and sorrows in his life. How could he make rash decisions due to losing control of his emotions?
Civil officials such as Huang Zicheng wanted to use the excuse of Wang Bi and others besieging Zhu Yunhuan to weaken Zhu Yunhuan's foundation.

Little did he know that this move was exactly what Old Zhu wanted.

He took advantage of the situation and helped Zhu Yunhuan establish his prestige in the court.

It is not a bad thing to take the opportunity to eliminate those people and forces that cannot be used by Zhu Yunhuan.

In this way, Huang Zicheng not only failed to undermine Zhu Yunhuan's power, but instead helped him.

If Huang Zicheng knew the inside story, would he be so angry that he vomited three liters of blood?
"Originally, I planned to massacre all the military generals and nobles while I was still alive."

"There won't be so much trouble in the future."

"But you don't have your own team in the court, they are the only ones willing to support you."

"Then kill some and keep some alive. Use both kindness and severity!"

Old Zhu spoke slowly, teaching him how to be an emperor.

"The emperor is supreme and is responsible for the entire Ming Dynasty."

"But this authority cannot be maintained by just the title of the Son of Heaven."

"Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a thing as 'holding the emperor hostage to control the princes'!"

"The Ming Dynasty was just founded, and the authority of the imperial court had not yet taken root in the hearts of the people."

"It turns out that there is only one force in this court, and that is the Huaixi nobles who followed us to conquer the world."

"Later, we used civil officials to rule the country, and through this, we also supported the emergence of a second force to compete with the military generals and nobles."

"This is not only for better governance of the world, but also to restrict the power of those military generals and nobles."

The words "balance of power" emerged in Zhu Yunhuan's mind.

This is the key for superiors to control their subordinates.

Let the people below fight to create a balanced situation.

Those in a higher position will be able to stay firmly in power and control all the authority.

"That's not enough." Lao Zhu said, "With only two forces, the balance is still very dangerous, because you can't completely defeat any of them."

"Otherwise, there will be an imbalance again!"

"For this reason, we have supported a third force, the vassal king."

"The princes are all our sons. They rule a place and command a region."

"With them in control of the military power, they can contain the generals and nobles, and they can support each other. With the Jinyiwei and the inspectors keeping a close watch, the Ming Dynasty can rest assured."

Zhu Yunhuan's mind moved slightly.

I couldn't help but think of myself.

The civil officials opposed it, the princes were dissatisfied, and the military generals and nobles seemed to support him, but in fact, in the eyes of that group of people, he was still a child.

With just one word from Lan Yu, the military generals and nobles led by Wang Bi could retreat obediently.

But who would listen to him?
Supporting him is simply because both sides have common interests.

It's not that I really obey him and am willing to follow his orders!

His foundation in the court is really too shallow.

"You have good literary talent. It's not difficult to win the hearts of scholars."

Old Zhu asked, "I heard that you took a man named Yang Shiqi as your teacher?" As expected, nothing could be hidden from Old Zhu.

Zhu Yunhuan nodded and said, "Well, this person is not bad, he has the talent to be a prime minister."

Zhu Yuanzhang had not expected that he would give such a high evaluation of Yang Shiqi. A hint of surprise appeared on his face. He smiled and said, "I heard that he didn't even pass the imperial examination. How could such a person be a prime minister?"

Zhu Yunhuan said: "Grandpa Emperor, you can't conclude that he is not talented just because he failed the imperial examination."

Lao Zhu said: "I believe in your judgment. If he didn't have some talent, you wouldn't have asked him to be your teacher."

"However, if you say he is a prime minister, I don't believe it."

"Although the world is vast, there are only a few people who are worthy of the title of Prime Minister."

"Besides, he is only in his twenties and has never had any experience in the court before."

At this point, Old Zhu asked casually, "Was it his idea that you led the Jinyiwei to capture Lan Yu?"

Zhu Yunhuan admitted honestly: "Yes!"

In front of a shrewd person like Lao Zhu, the wisest thing to do is to be honest.

If I really want to lie, I can only do it occasionally.

Act at the most critical moment.

You have to get yourself into the role first.

Before you lie to others, lie to yourself first.

Only in this way can you avoid letting others see the flaws.

Lao Zhu smiled and said, "Although I said that you can find a teacher for yourself, I still have to check for you."

"Let him enter the palace tomorrow. We will personally test him to see if he is as capable as you said."

Choosing a teacher for your child is no small matter.

This child in particular will become the heir to the Ming Empire.

After all, Zhu Yunhuan is only fourteen or fifteen years old, still a half-grown child.

How could Old Zhu be so relieved and really let go and let him make all the decisions on his own?

Zhu Yunhuan did not object to this.

He could have Yang Shiqi be his adviser and teacher, but all of this was done in private.

According to the rules, the prince's teacher can be given a higher official title.

This requires an imperial decree.

This would be even more true if he became the crown prince.

The crown prince's teacher is usually an important official in the court, a university scholar, or even the prime minister.

The lowest level should be Hanlin.

Yang Shiqi is still a commoner, this won't do.

If Zhu Yuanzhang meets him and passes the assessment, Yang Shiqi will be given an official position and have an official status.

Only then can he officially become the teacher of the prince, or even the teacher of the crown prince.

After dinner, the grandfather and grandson continued their conversation.

Old Zhu always felt guilty towards Zhu Yunhuan and wanted to talk to him more.

After figuring out the cause and effect of everything today, Old Zhu is becoming more and more satisfied with his grandson.

Zhu Yunwen only took advantage of the fact that he was filial.

But in terms of capabilities, there are many shortcomings.

In particular, they lack independent thinking, are indecisive, and are easily influenced by other people's opinions.

Zhu Yunwen's shortcomings were well known to Old Zhu.

However, there was not much room for selection since they had to find an heir from among Zhu Biao's descendants, so Zhu Yunwen was chosen.

Now it seems that Zhu Yunhuan is not only more filial than Zhu Yunwen, but his ability is ten times better than his.

Talented, intelligent, quick-witted, and decisive.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has such a successor, he can rest assured.

How could Old Zhu not be happy?

What's more, this was my son's wish when he was alive!

During the conversation between the grandfather and grandson, Zhu Yunhuan, who had been thinking for a long time, finally spoke.

(End of this chapter)