After Zhu Wenzhen brought his cousins back, Zhu Biao and Li Wenzhong stopped talking about who was the emperor and who was not.
"Go wash your hands."
"Let me take a bite first!"
“Wash your hands before eating.”
"Brother! You're the best!"
Zhu Biao had no choice but to cut off some meat and feed each of his brothers a piece first. Only then did his brothers change their clothes and wash their hands contentedly.
Zhu Wenzhen opened his mouth wide.
Zhu Biao viciously stuffed a large piece of meat into his mouth, almost choking Zhu Wenzhen to death.
Zhu Wenzhen held the spitted meat in both hands and continued to eat it, not minding the dirt.
Zhu Biao originally intended it to be a prank, but he once again discovered that there was no sense of accomplishment in playing a prank on Zheng Ge.
Afterwards, the brothers ate roasted lamb, ate fruits and sang songs, and were very happy.
Except Zhu Biao, who was not very happy because the screams and howls of his brothers were too loud.
While his sons, nephews and nieces were eating roasted lamb, gnawing on fruits and singing songs, Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting on the dragon throne, one elbow resting on the dragon table, his chin supported by the back of his hand, watching the ministers quarreling below the steps.
They had been arguing all day.
During grand court meetings, ministers would stand, and there was no table in front of Zhu Yuanzhang's dragon throne; during small court meetings, Zhu Yuanzhang and the ministers had chairs and tables, with pens, ink, paper, and inkstone on the tables. Some official business would be handled at small court meetings, which greatly improved efficiency.
The latter was the experience Zhu Yuanzhang learned when he was a wealthy businessman.
The grand court meeting was just a formality, and the small court meetings were generally the highest meetings to maintain the daily operation of the Ming Dynasty.
Now that the Empty Seal case has been investigated to the point of completion, it's time to finalize the first round of punishments. Xiao Chao will be arguing furiously.
But what’s funny is that the one who quarreled with the ministers who supported the punishment of the empty seal case was not another group of court officials, but a “commoner”.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat at the top, with the ministers on either side. Those who stepped out of the line would stand in the middle and speak. Commoners, not officials, had to kneel.
Zheng Shili knelt on the ground, Chang Yuchun stood beside him, and their argument had come to an end.
As a scholar, Zheng Shili was naturally eloquent, but Chang Yuchun actually managed to refute him so much that he was speechless. The noble expression on his face disappeared completely, and he kowtowed repeatedly to prove that he had no intention of being unfaithful.
Liu Ji was so angry that he gritted his teeth.
Biaoer was right; a reasonable person could not win over a stubborn and unreasonable one. The moment Chang Yuchun, the military governor, entered the court, he almost decided the outcome of this court debate.
In addition to Zhu Biao's ideas, Chang Yuchun's own eloquence was also crucial.
It was only when Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the Yangtze River to capture Jiqing (Nanjing) that he surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang as a bandit. By the time the Ming Dynasty was founded, even though he wasn't the Marshal of the Military Farms, his contributions were second only to Li Shanchang and Xu Da. His rise to become Zhu Yuanzhang's confidant, despite having surpassed many of his fellow villagers, wasn't solely due to his military prowess.
When Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind to kill Shao Rong, Chang Yuchun's persuasion played a decisive role.
Chang Yuchun was truly adept at killing people with words, and even more so because he had read books and could quote from classics.
Chang Yuchun first questioned Zheng Shili's morality, then questioned Zheng Shili's loyalty. Finally, he leaned over with tears in his eyes and knelt side by side with Zheng Shili, questioning why the grain that the people had worked so hard to grow was lost so much during transportation?
Zheng Shili had a righteous look on his face, but Chang Yuchun, the Duke of E, who was of higher status than him and whom he looked up to, fell to the ground and cried inconsolably.
"I am a farmer in Shanxi . One dan of grain is the output of one mu of land cultivated with great effort in a year. I also transport grain. How can grain be so little as a few hundred dan? A few hundred dan is the annual output of several hundred mu of land."
Chang Yuchun cried so hard that his tears and snot were all gone, and his image was completely ruined.
"Hundreds of acres of land, hundreds of acres for every village. That's a village's annual harvest, enough to feed the entire village! Your Majesty! I'm a rough man, and I've never been an official in the Yuan Dynasty. I don't know the well-known unspoken rules of the Yuan Dynasty officialdom. I'm just heartbroken about the disappearance of the grain!"
Chang Yuchun cried miserably, and the faces of his fellow generals who worked with Chang Yuchun showed anger and sadness.
During the war, this group of military generals suppressed the group of civil officials, and the civil officials had to bow and scrape when they saw them.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the court was governed by rules and regulations, and eloquence was paramount. They could not win arguments or debates, and could not even understand the innuendos of the civil officials. Gradually, they lost their voice in the court, with only a few military generals barely able to follow the deliberations.
Chang Yuchun was one of them. Chang Yuchun seldom returned to Nanjing. Even after becoming Duke of E, he still traveled extensively to the wilderness to cultivate and distribute land. Every time he returned to the court, Chang Yuchun could quote from classics, and as a civil official, he would speak on behalf of the military commanders, expressing what the military commanders were unable to say.
They all admired Chang Yuchun, admired his bravery, admired Chang Yuchun for not being interested in fame and fortune and still running around for the people, and admired Chang Yuchun for being illiterate like them but now being able to debate with the civil officials.
Now Duke of E, Chang Yuchun, was lying on the ground, crying inconsolably.
The "common people" beside him knelt upright with stern expressions, as if it was the Duke of E who was guilty, not him.
How could the generals not feel uncomfortable?
They completely don't understand. When they were common people, officials were more powerful than the common people. Common people would tremble in fear even when they saw a small official.
Why could a commoner kneel on the ground side by side with the Duke of E and make him cry like this?
The civil officials all said that this was a reflection of the people's will, a reflection of the unity between officials and the people, a reflection of the emperor's ability to accept advice, and a reflection of a wise ruler.
But how come they had never seen anything like this before?
Not to mention the military generals, even the civil officials who came from humble backgrounds and didn't understand the unspoken rules of the Yuan Dynasty officialdom or the officialdom of other dynasties didn't understand either.
How did things come to this?
"Duke of E, please stand up." After Chang Yuchun finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang had someone help Chang Yuchun up and wash his face and tidy up his clothes at the court meeting.
The court officials looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in silence and fear.
If Zhu Yuanzhang got angry, they would still dare to argue again, but Zhu Yuanzhang was too calm and didn't say a word, which made them panic.
Because when Zhu Yuanzhang had this expression before, the Nanjing court was flooded with blood!
Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his hands from the table, sat up straight, and glanced at the ministers with an indifferent look before settling on Zheng Shili. "According to what you said, I should first conduct a thorough investigation to find out why there must be errors and omissions in the grain transport verification by the court officials."
Zheng Shili was terrified: "Your Majesty! The journey is long..."
Chang Yuchun shouted, "Isn't the grain I'm transporting far away?"
Zheng Shili's head was buzzing and he almost felt dizzy after hearing Chang Yuchun's angry roar.
Chang Yuchun stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty! Isn't the grain transported from Yunnan to Nanjing by the Marquis of Diannan not far enough? Is there anyone who has gone farther than the Marquis of Diannan? Why doesn't the Marquis of Diannan use an empty seal? How can the Marquis of Diannan verify the consistency? They are lying!"
Zheng Shili wanted to speak several times, but Chang Yuchun interrupted him loudly, insisting that "there must be a problem if there are so many mistakes and omissions in the grain transportation to the court."
The court actually shifted to the question of "Why were there mistakes and omissions in grain transportation, and why did others transport grain without any mistakes?" It seemed that no one cared whether the seal was empty or not.
Zheng Shili and the officials who supported him were extremely anxious and wanted to change the subject, but Chang Yuchun spoke quickly and loudly , leaving their representative, Zheng Shili, no chance to speak.
The person behind him finally couldn't help it. After exchanging a few glances, he wanted to stand up and argue with Chang Yuchun on behalf of Zheng Shili.
Zheng Shili could be put to death, and the hundreds of officials involved in the Empty Seal Case could be put to death or exiled. But they at least had to dominate public opinion. Whether it was the people or future generations, they would have to say that Zhu Yuanzhang had committed indiscriminate killings.
This is the game between the monarch and his subjects.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was scolded many times, he would back down;
Even if Zhu Yuanzhang did not retreat, his successor would have been raised by this group of people. In the eyes of his successor, Zhu Yuanzhang was cruel, and that was why he was a benevolent ruler.
The crown prince returned to the throne only when he was twenty? That was nothing. A young man was still a child. When the crown prince came to the court, they would definitely teach him well. The emperor had no choice but to let them teach him.
You can conquer the world, but you cannot rule it. If Zhu Yuanzhang, a peasant, wanted to turn the Zhu Dynasty into a truly orthodox and excellent feudal dynasty, he had to let the prince study hard and communicate with the civil officials.
Military commanders? They'll be useless once the world is pacified.
This is the law of feudal dynasties.
But when they were about to stand up, the white-haired and bearded Liu Ji, who was too agile to be a scholar, suddenly rushed to the middle and cried out in grief: "Your Majesty! You cannot use this to convict the officials!"
All the civil and military officials were shocked. Wasn't Liu Ji on the side demanding punishment for the officials involved in the empty seal case?
Zhu Yuanzhang was also shocked. What was this old fellow Liu Bowen up to? Was he still stubborn and determined to try to curse someone to death?
Zhu Yuanzhang calmed down and asked in a deep voice, "Why?"
Liu Ji said sadly, "During the Western Han Dynasty, if anyone hid armor in their residence, it was considered treason. In the early Han Dynasty, many officials hid armor in their residences and were charged with treason. Did they really have armor in their residences?"
Although Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know why Liu Ji suddenly changed the subject, he still cooperated and said, "Not necessarily."
Liu Ji said, "Yes! Not necessarily! In fact, the history books reveal that the Han Emperor killed them mostly because they encroached on fertile land, oppressed the people, and colluded with the upper and lower classes. But why couldn't the Han Emperor convict them of such crimes? Your Majesty, because such crimes do not warrant the death penalty!"
Zhu Yuanzhang: "...Hmm?"
Liu Ji said sadly, "Zheng Shili is right. The officialdom has its own unspoken rules. Empty seals are one of them, and inconsistent grain transportation verification is also another. Why does grain transportation require four levels of verification: county, prefecture, province, and Ministry of Revenue? Because if any link fails to verify, we will know which link has a problem with the grain transportation."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly: "I know."
He had been a businessman before and knew how cargo transportation worked. Only by checking every level could one accurately calculate the cargo transportation problem.
As for errors and omissions, do you need to travel a long way back to correct them? This measure will only increase the trouble of making changes!
For example, when the Chen family shipped goods, they checked once at the store, once at the warehouse, once when Chen Ying was transporting them, and once again when they were put into storage. These four checks ensured that everything was correct.
If we use blank stamps and then compile a table based on the existing numbers when we conduct an inspection, what is the point of this verification? Can we still detect transportation errors and omissions? Can we still find out who is embezzling money?
Liu Ji said: "But Your Majesty, it is hard for officials to transport grain, and they need to make arrangements at all levels. This is also the unspoken rule of the officialdom!"
Zhu Yuanzhang: "..." What does Liu Ji want to do?
Liu Ji knelt down, tears streaming down his face. "From ancient times to the present, this is how the officialdom has operated. Your Majesty has just become emperor and does not understand this. If the law does not prohibit it, then there can be no punishment. Your Majesty can punish officials for treason, but you must never punish officials for it. This is the behavior of a tyrant!"
"It's the tyrant!"