After Zhu Biao made the arrangements, he went to Goryeo to inquire about the news and asked the merchants coming and going to avoid wrongly accusing Tsushima Island.
After confirming that the entire island of Tsushima was a den of Japanese pirates and all the merchants coming and going knew it (Liao Yongzhong scolded those Japanese pirate leaders again), the Ming army launched a plan to blockade the Japanese pirates on Tsushima Island.
It is difficult to completely wipe out Tsushima Island. Tsushima Island is also a mountainous island. Once people flee to the mountains, the Ming army will have to spend a lot of effort to search them out from the mountains, which is not worth the effort.
It would be easy to blockade Tsushima Island.
The Ming army's warships didn't even start their engines, but relied on sails to wander around Tsushima Island for several days, notifying passing merchant ships to bypass Tsushima Island, as the Ming Dynasty wanted to wipe out the Japanese pirates.
A few days later, when no ships arrived in the nearby waters, the Ming army began to bombard the villages on the coast of Tsushima Island.
In the following days, the Ming army bombarded any people or boats they saw. When there was no one on the shore, they went ashore to search for anything they could take away. When they found nothing to take away, they asked the residents of Tamra Island for help and started fishing on their boats.
The Japanese pirates on Tsushima Island seemed to be very familiar with being attacked from their lair. There was nothing to loot at the foot of the mountain, so they had already brought the fish back in. But perhaps because of the confluence of cold and warm currents nearby, the Ming army always returned with a full load of fish, which made Liao Yongzhong smile from ear to ear.
Seeing this, the residents of Jeju Island also drove their small, broken fishing boats and followed the Ming army out to sea to fish, taking advantage of the Ming army's power.
Since being harassed by Japanese pirates, they rarely go to sea.
"Even when we went fishing in the past, we didn't dare go too far. The deep sea is very dangerous." Zhao Honghua said with a smile.
She suggested tying a rope on the deck of the Ming army ship, connecting it to the boat of the Tamra Islanders.
The Ming army's sailing boats were very powerful and could pull these small boats without an engine.
When they arrived at their destination, the Ming army went to carry out patrol and blockade missions, while the residents of Tamra Island were fishing nearby. When the Ming army returned, they again hung the ropes on the backs of the Ming warships and followed the Ming army back to the island.
A large amount of sea fish needs to be salted and dried immediately before it can be used as food storage.
If the Ming army relied solely on fishing and drying fish, they would not have enough manpower and time to do it after completing the blockade mission.
Usually at this time, logisticians are needed to solve the problem. This is why the ratio of soldiers to logisticians in orthodox wars is at least one to three.
Seeing that the situation in Goryeo was developing in the direction he most hoped for, Zhu Biao decided to settle directly in Goryeo.
He had originally planned to gradually deploy logistics personnel from within the country. Once the citizens of Tamra became citizens of the Ming Dynasty, he would only need to transport some tools, greatly reducing the logistical pressure.
Zhao Honghua is the main contributor to all this.
Zhao Honghua, leveraging her language skills, not only served as an interpreter for the Ming army and the Tamra people, but also constantly reassured the hesitant Tamra people, bolstering their resolve to follow the Ming. She also employed practical strategies to support her arguments, bolstering the Tamra people's belief that "becoming a citizen of the Ming Dynasty would bring a better life."
At the same time, Zhao Honghua was also very bold. Whenever she had a good idea, she would immediately go to Zhu Biao or Liao Yongzhong to discuss it.
If she firmly believed that this idea was correct, she would have persisted in pestering Zhu Biao and Liao Yongzhong even if the other party was the governor of Northern Zhili and the commander-in-chief of the navy.
Either she could convince these two officials, or these two officials could convince her. Otherwise, she would never back down.
Zhu Biao suspected that if Zhao Honghua lived in modern society, she would definitely become a very good neighborhood committee director.
Liao Yongzhong was extremely curious: "Aren't you afraid? I'm a marshal! Wouldn't normal people be afraid when they see a marshal?"
Zhao Honghua put her hands on her hips and said, "I'm scared! But they believed me, and their whole family followed me out of the mountains to make a living. No matter how scared I am, I have to do it!"
Liao Yongzhong said helplessly: "Okay, okay, I understand. Isn't it just a matter of blowing up a mountain? I'll do it."
Liao Yongzhong, who believed that "how could the sacred new artillery be wasted like this", was convinced, and Zhu Biao signed the logistics deployment with a helpless smile.
Liao Yongzhong looked at the mountain of dried salted fish, smacked his lips, and felt hopeless.
Zhao Honghua was very honest and asked Liao Yongzhong to blow up a piece of the mountain wall that blocked the water source by using a hill of dried salted fish.
As long as there is enough firewood, fishermen can quickly turn fresh sea fish into long-lasting salted fish. The weather has been good recently, which is perfect for drying fish.
There was flat land in front of the cliff that could be used for cultivation, but getting water was a problem. Once the cliff was blasted, the residents of Tamra Island could immediately dig a small river as a source of irrigation water and cultivate new land.
Liao Yongzhong never thought that the Ming army's artillery could be used in this way.
"In peacetime, the most common use of explosives in China is in construction projects. In fact, gunpowder was also used in the past when quarrying rocks." Zhu Biao said, "It's written in the book. Uncle Liao, you..."
Liao Yongzhong immediately said, "I left in a hurry and didn't bring many books with me! I will definitely read them when I get back! I will!"
Zhu Biao laughed.
Why is it that every time he mentioned "it's written in the book", everyone from Uncle Liao to the ordinary soldiers looked nervous as if their homework was being checked by the teacher?
Ben Zhisheng is not a devil.
But obviously, in the eyes of Zhu Biao's dull students, Zhu Biao was much more terrifying than any devil.
Even the people of Tamra Island looked at Zhu Biao with respect and fear.
They have started the "Ming Dynasty People Training Course", and Ming soldiers who have received basic education for several years take turns teaching them.
The learning foundation of these islanders is similar to that of most ordinary Ming soldiers - they are illiterate, only know the dialect, and count by counting sticks.
They are all experienced people, so they are very experienced and quick-tempered in teaching the islanders.
At this time, Zhu Biao, who quickly summarized the "One Hundred Common Words and Characters" of the Tamra dialect and the Ming Dynasty official language, and then adjusted the courses for them in a timely manner, quickly made the people of Tamra Island sigh, "Ah, so this is the Wenquxing that the former queen mentioned.
Zhu Biao then used all sorts of strange methods to urge, motivate and whip them to study on their own, causing them to have nightmares at night and they began to get scared.
Zhao Honghua laughed so hard that her eyes became invisible.
Even after becoming Zhu Jiabiao, Chen Jiabiao is still as amazing as ever. I'm so lucky!
After the people of Jeonra Island became less and less afraid of the Ming army, Zhao Honghua not only led the people of Jeonra Island to study, cultivate land, hunt, fish, and build houses, and supported the Ming army in building a city on Jeonra Island, but also set her sights on single Ming soldiers.
One day, Zhao Honghua had been blocking the door for several days when she finally stopped Liao Yongzhong: "Marshal Liao! Marshal Liao! Don't run! This is a good thing!"
Liao Yongzhong blushed and said, "This is a good thing, but it's not my responsibility! Go find Biao'er!"
Zhao Honghua said, "Marshal Liao, the provincial governor is still a rookie. What does he know? You should be responsible for this matter. I heard that Marshal Chang will be in charge of this. Isn't this what the marshals of the Ming Dynasty would do?"
Liao Yongzhong: “??!!!”
Chang Yuchun was also responsible for matchmaking between the common people and the Ming army?! Isn't this something only Empress Ma would do?
Liao Yongzhong said seriously, "This is fake! This is the responsibility of the Empress, not the Marshal of the Daming Dynasty!"
Zhao Honghua glared: "Really! My third aunt's brother-in-law's daughter was married off by Marshal Chang!"
Liao Yongzhong was shocked.
Could Chang Yuchun really do such a thing?! He was good at naval warfare, land warfare, siege and defense, and farming, education and governance, but how could he even get involved in matchmaking?
You are involved in everything. What should we, the ordinary marshals of the Ming Dynasty, do?
Liao Yongzhong's face trembled: "Okay, I'll ask Biao'er."
Zhao Honghua's eyes widened. "The Governor is already busy enough, how can you bear to let him worry about such a small matter? You have children at home, are you still exploiting them like this? The Governor calls you uncle, how can you push everything onto him!"
Zhao Honghua grabbed Liao Yongzhong's sleeve and refused to let go, looking like a shrew.
The former citizens of Tamra, led by the former king of Tamra, watched secretly (openly) and whispered (loudly).
Zhu Biao, who was hiding aside and watching the fun, pricked up his ears and eavesdropped.
Translated into Ming Dynasty official language, they said the following.
"Tie Niu, your wife is so strong!"
"Oh my god, our queen is pulling at the sleeve of the Ming marshal and yelling, won't the marshal draw his sword and chop him down?"
"My grandfather has seen the Yuan army, and I have seen the Goryeo army. Forget about pulling your sleeves and yelling. If you don't kneel fast enough, your head will fall off."
"The marshal of the Ming Dynasty is really strange."
"Indeed, the marshal of the Ming Dynasty is really strange."...
Zhao Honghua heard the loud noises coming from the group, let go of Liao Yongzhong's sleeve, turned around and yelled, "Have you finished your work? Have you learned the characters you learned today? What are you all standing there for? Are you lazy men and women? Go!"
The crowd of onlookers dispersed, and Zhao Honghua's lame husband ran the fastest. Except for the uncoordinated swaying of his back, his speed did not look like that of a lame man at all.
"Hahahaha..." Zhu Biao couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Liao Yongzhong: “…Biaoer!” Save me!
Zhu Biao swaggered out of his hiding place with his hands behind his back. "Uncle Liao, Madam Zhao is right. Solving the problem of Ming soldiers and civilians getting married is what a pacifying general should do. Uncle Chang has set a good example. Just follow his lead. Don't count on me for everything. I'll be back to Beijing soon."
Liao Yongzhong frowned and said, "Then you have to teach me. I don't know how to do it."
Zhu Biao said, "If you don't understand, figure it out yourself. Discuss it with Ms. Zhao. I trust you!"
Liao Yongzhong: "..." Can I say don't believe me?
But the person in front of him was not only his good nephew Biao'er, but also the crown prince who would return to the throne in a few years. The crown prince had already said "I believe you", so he was too embarrassed to continue to retreat and had to bite the bullet.
Zhao Honghua cheered with joy, turned around and ran without any etiquette or even politeness, to tell the people of Tamra Island the good news.
Due to continuous wars and famine, most of the residents of Tamra Island are women.
These women were not good-looking due to hunger and fatigue, and the Koreans looked down on them and rarely married them.
There are ancient wisdoms for tribal survival, such as not allowing too many people from the same tribe to marry each other. Many women find it difficult to start a family.
Now, they have set their sights on the Ming army.
I think there's a difference in aesthetics, so this blind date might not go very smoothly. But even if a dozen or so cases are successful, it would greatly accelerate the rate of Tamra Islanders becoming Ming-like. Zhu Biao was very supportive.
Seeing Liao Yongzhong having a headache, he became even more supportive.
Everything is moving in the right direction.
On Tsushima Island, the blockade has lasted for half a month.
The Ming army seemed tireless, circling Tsushima Island daily, their sailing ships moving at ghostly speeds. The Japanese pirates on Tsushima Island were unable to cultivate the few fertile fields at the foot of the mountain, nor could they go out to sea to fish, let alone plunder.
It was the lean season, and their food reserves were running low. Even if they had some farmland in the mountains, they could still hunt for a living, but they were so used to living off the riches of the land that they couldn't afford to return to the mountains and become mountain dwellers.
Especially the So family that ruled Tsushima Island. They relied on robbery to live a luxurious life similar to that of the Japanese nobles. Now it would be too difficult for them to become wild people in the mountains.
Tsushima Island also took in many defeated nobles and their families and servants who had escaped from the Wa Islands. Most of these people did not know how to farm or hunt, and lived purely on robbery. When they were blocked by the Ming army, they were the first to lose their food.
Tsushima Island soon erupted in civil unrest over food scrambles, with some elderly people, women, and children being the first to be driven out, putting on the most pitiful appearances (perhaps truly) and begging for help.
But the feudal army's hearts were as hard as iron, and even harder than iron when fighting against foreign races.
The Ming army strictly followed Liao Yongzhong's orders and continued to fire cannons at any people or ships they saw, without any contact with these people at all.
Seeing that playing the victim could not arouse the sympathy of this group of people, some nobles asked their servants to wear gorgeous armor to impersonate themselves, and then held gold, silver and flags of surrender, willing to surrender to the Ming army.
But when these people appeared on the coast, they were still greeted only by artillery fire.
Only after all the people in sight disappeared would the Ming army go ashore to see what they had brought.
So the Japanese pirates dared not come out of the mountains again and could only hold on.
They had come up with a good idea: when they ran out of food, they would drive people out to die, so that they would have more food.
So they continued the civil war, with the losers being tied up and pushed out to die. This not only saved more food but also consumed the Ming army's artillery firepower.
The pirates all knew that sending a nation's regular army into battle would be profitable. The more stable a dynasty, the less likely it would be to send troops. Their court's Ministry of Revenue would not allow it.
The Ming army's artillery was formidable. Such formidable artillery must have been incredibly expensive to produce. They waited for the Ming army to realize it was unprofitable and retreat.
The people of Tsushima Island had been pirates for so many generations and had encountered countless encirclements and suppressions when the political situation in Goryeo was relatively stable. In the end, they managed to survive by hiding in the mountains and waiting for the withdrawal of troops.
They believe this time will be no exception.
But what they never expected was that Zhu Biao collected a lot of raw materials from the volcanic island of Jeju Island, and transported equipment and craftsmen from the Ming Dynasty to build a new shipyard and firearms factory on Jeju Island.
Jeju Island is far away from the Ming Dynasty, so Zhu Biao deliberately adopted a factory structure to make the operation of the shipyard and firearms factory smoother and the production capacity higher.
When Zhu Biao learned that the Japanese pirates on Tsushima Island had no ability to fight back, he also brought a large number of old cannons and ammunition that needed to be destroyed. While allowing the Ming army to continue their patrol mission, he invited Goryeo officials to visit.
Look, although these are old-fashioned firearms, they are still powerful. At least they can easily defeat the Japanese.
The Ming will soon attack the Northeast. The Jurchens who fought you so hard in the north will soon become Ming civilians, and will likely be relocated to the warmer south to farm. You will no longer need a defense line in the north; your only enemy will be the Japanese.
Aren’t you excited to see these good things?
If you feel like it, take action. If you miss this opportunity, we will have to go south.
"Many island nations in Southeast Asia are already negotiating firearms trade with the Ming Dynasty. These old firearms will no longer be produced, so the less they are sold, the less they will be. We won't be selling new firearms anytime soon. If you miss this opportunity, you won't have the chance to immediately raise an army equipped entirely with firearms..."
Zhu Yi did not speak eloquently, but just told the truth.
The Goryeo officials all knew that Zhu Yi was a sincere man with extremely high moral standards and would never lie, so they were all panicked.
So Zhu Yi completed several more grain orders.
Liao Yongzhong said, "He only said that a country in Southeast Asia is negotiating firearms trade with us, but why didn't he say that there has been no progress so far?"
Zhu Biao said, "Why should we tell you everything? They didn't pay us for the information."
Liao Yongzhong: “…”
He probably will never do business in his life.
Liao Yongzhong sighed again, "On this journey, even the Goryeo capital of Kaifeng seemed quite desolate, with starving people everywhere outside the city. It's said that they've never recovered from the great famine that hit a few years ago. I never imagined their nobles would have so much grain to spend on firearms."
Zhu Biao said, "I thought Uncle Liao was used to it. In the last few years of the Yuan Dynasty, natural disasters plagued the capital year after year. Zhang Shicheng and others provided grain relief near Dadu, and at least tens of thousands of people starved to death each year. However, this did not prevent the nobles from enjoying themselves, and the armies of the Yuan Dynasty and all the warlords had enough food."
Zhu Biao laughed, not knowing whether it was a mockery or a self-deprecation: "It's only the common people who cry in the famine. What does it have to do with the nobles? Maybe they are living a better life. This is a great opportunity to rob the common people of their wealth."
Liao Yongzhong was silent for a moment, then asked, "Will the Ming Dynasty...will the Ming Dynasty become like this in the future?"
Zhu Biao was very puzzled as to why Liao Yongzhong would ask such a profound question. It couldn't be that his father would show off the heavenly book to everyone he met, and even Uncle Liao couldn't escape his clutches, right?
Zhu Biao said: "It will definitely happen. We can only guarantee that our generation... no, we can only guarantee that we ourselves will not do it."
Liao Yongzhong lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head and smiled, "That's right. We can't become like this."
The people of Tsushima Island were still waiting in hopelessness, completely unaware that the Ming army had already established a naval base next to them.
This naval base is not the base established by the Yuan army on Jeju Island and Tsushima Island. Instead, it is a base that combines logistics and manufacturing. Except for food, it still needs support from Goryeo and Ming Dynasty, but everything else is self-sufficient.
After all, the Goryeo nobles were happy to use the raw materials they lacked to exchange for the goods they wanted to buy, and the Ming army didn't even have to worry about transportation.
The navy is to be transformed into a navy, and all naval forces will now travel back and forth between Haejin Town and Jeonra Island to conduct maritime military navigation and combat training.
Tsushima Island is an excellent training location.
Although this training was bloody, the ministers with the highest moral sense in the court had no objection to it.
How can it be considered immoral to use the Japanese pirates' lair as a location for actual combat training?
This is probably another manifestation of "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen".
After the "Tsushima Island Military Training and Ming Dynasty Product Exhibition" was on track, Yang Xian finally brought his selected old subordinates to Jeonra Island.
He also brought a letter from Zhu Guorui.
Zhu Biao looked at the piece of paper filled with his father's words "Son, why haven't you come back yet" and felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
Who told me before we left that I could just hang out and not rush back? It's only been a short while. Why did they start making such a fuss?
In the past, you often left home for half a year or a year, and I didn't make a fuss. I was just like you, sending letters back every few days, didn't I?
No matter what, the work is not done yet and I haven’t had enough fun, so I won’t go home.
Zhu Biao ignored the letter and began to train the people brought by Yang Xian.
The most important point of this training is to give up all illusions about the Japanese and to view them as barbaric and despicable. Even if they may be wearing civilized clothing, they must never be treated as civilized people.
"You are arrogant and cunning. Even if you observe etiquette, your etiquette must be used to suppress the other side," Zhu Biao said in his lecture. "They are untrustworthy, they are polite but not righteous, and they only care about profit and power. As long as you can show absolute strength, you can seize the initiative. To this end, I have specially sent warships to escort you and fire a few cannons before you go ashore."
The messengers nodded vigorously and took notes quickly.
"By the way, while you can be strong, don't seek death. Forget about Mr. Zi Chong. You don't have a large army accompanying you, nor do you have two highly skilled generals accompanying you." Zhu Biao thought for a moment and emphasized, "You must not seek death. Come back alive. A small island nation is not worth risking your life on a diplomatic mission."
The messengers all laughed and said, "I know!"
Zhu Biao was still worried and asked Yang Xian, "Do they really know?"
Yang Xian laughed dumbly. "Of course. Only valuable things can be sacrificed, and worthless things are just wasted deaths. Right now, the Ming Dynasty has no plans to do anything to the Japanese islands, so of course they will try their best to return alive so that they can bring back intelligence as well."
Zhu Biao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Mr. Zi Chong's behavior, like that of the envoys during the Han and Tang dynasties, has left me with a psychological trauma."
Yang Xian laughed out loud.
What he didn't tell Zhu Biao was that if it was profitable, the envoys would also seek death.
Mr. Wang's example was truly inspiring. Even if he had issued an order, it would not have stopped these envoys from reading the biographies of Han and Tang envoys every day.
This cannot be blamed on me as my superior, but only on the terrible idol effect.
Who among the learned doesn't want to leave his name in history? If you die, you die. If you're afraid of death, don't serve as an envoy.
The envoys set out on warships, heading towards the emperors of the Northern and Southern dynasties respectively.
When they were about to dock, they were attacked by the regular Japanese army.
However, after the Ming army fired a few artillery shots, their emperor and the powerful generals who supported the emperor appeared in person and said that it was all a misunderstanding. Japan absolutely had no intention of declaring war on the Ming Dynasty and asked the Ming envoy for forgiveness.
Everything is under Zhu Biao's control.
He believed that the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan would definitely become the next generous and good customer of the Ming Dynasty.
With the support of the Ming Dynasty, it is hoped that they can defeat the other side in a more thorough way, rather than relying on peace talks to achieve unification as in the original history.
As we all know, peace talks will inevitably involve compromises, and compromises will bring hidden dangers.
He loves this good neighbor with beautiful environment and even more beautiful people so much. He hopes that the neighbor can prosper like Daming, eliminate all hidden dangers and embrace a bright future.
Zhu Biao rubbed his fingers.
Both sides had already received the Ming envoys. Besides trade and joint efforts to combat the Japanese pirates, Zhu Biao's only request was for the temporary use of Kyushu Island to suppress the pirates and intercept them before they could reach the Ming Dynasty. Once the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan were unified and the Japanese pirates could be prevented from appearing in Ming waters, the Ming Dynasty would leave Kyushu Island.
He would include this in the agreement. The Ming Dynasty was a country of great propriety and would not bother to break a treaty with a tiny country.
After Zhu Biao expressed his intention to Emperor Zhu, Emperor Zhu said that he was a little busy at the moment and let Zhu Biao do whatever he wanted. He sent him a few blank imperial edicts and asked him to fill them out as he pleased.
When Zhu Biao saw the blank imperial edict, his scalp exploded.
What immediately flashed through his mind was the "Empty Seal Case".
Your Majesty, are you going to personally initiate the Empty Seal Case?
"Isn't the emperor afraid that someone will steal the imperial edict in the middle of the journey?" Zhu Biao roared.
Yang Xian said, "Of course the emperor trusts me, that's why he gave me the imperial edict. And the emperor wrote in the imperial edict that it will only be effective if you write and read it yourself."
Zhu Biao roared, "That won't do! We can't set this precedent!"
Yang Xian was at a loss for words: "He is the emperor..."
Zhu Biao roared even louder: "Even the emperor can't do that! The emperor doesn't obey! How can we expect officials to obey!"
He immediately put away the blank imperial edict and decided to rush back to Beijing the next day to write a memorial to the emperor to advise him.
Before Zhu Biao left, he repeatedly reminded Yang Xian not to tell this matter to anyone else and not to let anyone know that the emperor had written a blank imperial edict.
"Now that the emperor has set this precedent, future officials will openly stamp their seals before writing documents. This is a huge hidden danger to the Ming Dynasty!" Zhu Biao said.
Seeing Zhu Biao so serious, Yang Xian frowned slightly.
Zhu Biao: "...Don't tell me that many people in the court have already used this method?"
Yang Xian hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "This is an unspoken rule passed down from the Yuan Dynasty. Everyone does this, saying it improves efficiency. The emperor wants officials to do a lot of things, but if they don't do much, they say they can't finish it."
Zhu Biao asked, "What about you? Do you do the same?"
Yang Xian immediately shook his head: "No, I didn't."
Zhu Biao said seriously, "Unwritten rules are not rules. Since they cannot be brought to the surface, everyone knows that they are wrong. Even if a thousand, ten thousand, or a hundred thousand people do it, it is still wrong."
Yang Xian said, "I understand, don't worry, Biao'er."
Zhu Biao frowned: "Does the emperor know?"
Yang Xian said, "I don't know. The practice of stamping first and then writing the document is mostly used for local documents that need to be submitted through many levels. The emperor has definitely not seen it with his own eyes, but I don't know if anyone else has told the emperor."
Zhu Biao frowned even more tightly.
He wondered when the Empty Seal Case, one of the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty, broke out.
He knew the dangers of the empty seal case, but he couldn't remember the time because in economic books, the specific time of events obviously didn't need to be memorized or tested. If you don't "store" it in your mind, you can't "get it out."
But this should not be when Hongwu was first established.
Zhu Biao walked around a few times and scratched his hair vigorously with both hands.
Even if it did not happen when the Ming Dynasty was just established, since it was an "unspoken rule", it was probably like this when the Ming Dynasty was just established, and Zhu Yuanzhang only discovered it after a few years or even decades.
It was all too common in feudal dynasties for the emperor to discover an unspoken rule within the court for years or even decades. Because the emperor sat in the palace, he had limited ways to gather intelligence daily. Officials would not specifically inform the emperor of such unspoken rules, so he naturally remained unaware.
Perhaps this is why Zhu Yuanzhang established the Jinyiwei.
However, the Jinyiwei, a tool that only obeyed the emperor and supervised all officials, was a complete symbol of tyranny. Zhu Yuanzhang could not withstand the pressure and finally dismissed the Jinyiwei.
Does the emperor now have the idea of establishing the Jinyiwei?
"Biao'er, this... is this serious?" Yang Xian was a little worried.
Zhu Biao said: "Let's not talk about the harm caused by this incident itself. If the emperor sitting on the dragon throne is unaware of the hidden rules of the officialdom, then this problem will be very serious."
Yang Xian didn't understand.
Zhu Biao said: "This court cannot have any hidden rules that the emperor is unaware of, otherwise the emperor will become deaf and blind."
Yang Xian's body trembled, and his back was immediately wet with cold sweat.
He had no idea that this matter had such significance.
Yang Xian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Biao'er, you...I...Alas, I'm afraid no one would have thought of deliberately hiding this from the emperor."
Zhu Biao said, "Isn't that even more terrifying? This shows that all the officials involved in this matter subconsciously believe that the emperor doesn't need to know about this. They are officials of the Ming Dynasty, officials of the emperor. They don't need to tell the emperor about the unspoken rules. In their eyes, what is the emperor?"
Yang Xian sweated even more.
Even before he knew he was the crown prince, Biaoer already had the perspective of an emperor. This sense of oppression was no less than that of the emperor.
Zhu Biao hesitated for a moment and said, "I originally wanted to ask you, Uncle Yang, to submit a memorial. That way, after the matter is exposed, you might be blamed less by the emperor. However, since you have never used the empty seal, even if the emperor blames you, he will not punish you. If you go and inform on the matter and stand against all the officials, I am afraid you will have a hard time in the future. I'd rather let me write it."
Yang Xian immediately stopped him: "Since this will offend all the officials, Biao'er can't do it!"
Zhu Biao laughed and said, "Have I offended many officials? I am not afraid of this. Thinking carefully, it seems that I am the only one who can make a memorial. If I make a memorial, the emperor's anger may be less."
He could check some things out by the way.
Seeing Zhu Biao's confidence, Yang Xian frowned and said, "Biao'er, don't force yourself."
Zhu Biao asked, "When have I ever been so strong as to hold on?"
Yang Xian said with a straight face: "Many times!"
Zhu Biao: “…”
He raised his head, put his hands behind his back, didn't bother to pay attention to Yang Xian, left proudly, and went back to his room to rest.
On the second day, Zhu Biao handed over the work in his hands, and forced Yang Xian to stay to do the work in his place. He did not allow Yang Xian to leave before returning to Beijing.
However, Yang Xian still secretly handed the letter out, and it reached Zhu Yuanzhang one day earlier than Zhu Biao.
At this time, the news of the great victory at Buir Lake just reached Zhu Yuanzhang's ears. Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy, so when he saw this incident, he was not very angry.
"Look, Biao'er is talking about the hidden rules of officialdom." Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I even got scolded. Sigh."
After reading Yang Xian's letter, Li Shanchang pondered, "It seems that there is indeed such an unspoken rule."
Zhu Yuanzhang was puzzled: "Why do you say 'seem'? Even Lord Li is not very clear about it."
Li Shanchang said, "Of course they wouldn't dare do that in the Secretariat. The only ones who would do that are the ones who need to pass documents through layers of government."
Ye Zheng frowned: "Although it is for improving efficiency, if it is a blank document, won't the consequences be extremely serious?"
Li Shanchang said, "They must have their own ways of evading responsibility, such as dealing with seals. However, the consequences will still be endless. But that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is, as Biao'er said, even the emperor and us ministers are unaware of the hidden rules of the officialdom. Doesn't that mean they treat us as blind and deaf?"
Liu Ji snorted coldly: "I wonder how many hidden rules there are in the officialdom that we don't know about."
Li Shanchang said calmly, "That's normal. None of us three have ever been high-ranking officials in the Yuan Dynasty, so we know nothing about the unspoken rules of the Yuan Dynasty."
Ye Zheng thought of Zhang Chang and Wang Liang, who was still teaching in the Beijing labor reform camp.
It would be great if someone familiar with the Yuan Dynasty officialdom was willing to assist His Majesty. But if such a person really existed, and they had only just arrived, they probably wouldn't trust him completely.
Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard and said, "This matter needs to be stopped."
Li Shanchang said, "It's easy to stop it, but how do we convict people? Since it's such an unspoken rule, I'm afraid countless people, from top to bottom, have done it. If everyone is convicted, the court will be paralyzed."
Liu Ji said, "That doesn't mean the law doesn't punish everyone. If the law doesn't punish everyone, what kind of law is it?"
Li Shanchang said: "Of course we can't let the law go unpunished, but we must control the scale and make an example of them."
Ye Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Besides that, the inefficiency of document delivery is indeed a problem that needs to be addressed. To plug this loophole, we should come up with a solution that can replace it. Otherwise, the chaos will only worsen."
The three began to discuss and asked Zhu Yuanzhang for his opinion.
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "You guys discuss it. After you've discussed it, I'll kill the people."
Three people: "..."
So the three of them began to take turns yelling and nagging, forcing Zhu Yuanzhang to use his brain quickly.
As an emperor, don't you love to make decisions on your own? Think about it yourself! If you don't think about the affairs of the court, you will never learn. What will you do next time you encounter unspoken rules? Can you still rely on Biao'er? Can you rely on Biao'er for the rest of your life?
Zhu Yuanzhang was very helpless.
He really wanted to come up with a way to plug the loophole himself, but the key was that he had never been an official, so he didn't know how to do it. Besides, why can't we rely on Biao'er for the rest of our lives? You guys are really weird.
But in order not to anger the three old ministers to death, he could only say that he would go back and read the history books and try to find inspiration from them.
The three of them kept nagging him, "Your Majesty, you have to work hard. You can't be so decadent and depraved. You are the emperor!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was defeated and fled.
He was really helpless. Being an emperor was really too troublesome. If Biao'er had died earlier...
Hmm? Didn't Yang Xian write in his letter that Biao'er would be back soon?
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was flipping through a history book, jumped up and said, "Biao'er is coming back, what else can I think of?"
Ma Xiuying, who was embroidering new clothes for her son, almost pricked her finger with the needle when her hand shook.
"Zhu Chongba! Please think for yourself and don't rely on Biao'er for everything!" Ma Xiuying was so angry that she stabbed Zhu Yuanzhang with a needle, "Can you be a good emperor?"
Zhu Yuanzhang jumped up again: "Ah!"