I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 300 Not Enough

If you are not convinced, you will be like Wanli who sent eunuchs to collect taxes. As a result, the taxes collected were less than one tenth of the actual amount collected, and the emperor will have to bear the blame for hundreds of years.
To get back to the point, someone like Zhu Houxun is definitely the candidate for emperor that the civil officials least want to see.

During his more than half a month as regent, Zhu Houxuan demonstrated his two qualities to the civil servants: shrewdness and diligence.

If the emperor does not want to be restricted and undermined by civil servants, these two qualities are indispensable.

In this regard, Zhu Youtang and his son Zhu Houzhao are the best examples...

Zhu Youtang was hardworking but not smart enough, so he was led by the civil officials...

Zhu Houzhao was smart but not hardworking. He was very lazy in areas that he was not interested in, such as government affairs. He could only handle a few affairs in a day, and the government was controlled by civil officials...

Zhu Houxuan possessed both of these characteristics.
Zhu Houxuan's cleverness does not entirely refer to his personality. Part of the reason also lies in his confidence that he will not be fooled, which is the royal group he established.

The branches and key personnel of the Royal Group in various places would transmit all kinds of information to the capital every day, and the diligent Zhu Houxuan, who had a superhuman memory, would absorb it into his brain. With this reliable source of information, the civil officials could not fool Zhu Houxuan in many things, because a lie needed more lies to cover it up, but facing Zhu Houxuan, no one knew at what point the lie would be exposed.
In a sense, the Royal Group is more suitable for collecting various information than the various spy agencies of the Ming Dynasty. Although it does not have the same power as the spy agencies, it is more low-key and covert. Moreover, each spy agency is a money-eating beast that needs to spend money continuously, while the Royal Group is essentially a commercial organization that can continue to make profits. Collecting various information is just a side job.
If a person like Zhu Houxuan, who has his own information sources, is not muddle-headed, and is able to work hard, becomes emperor, the civil officials will not be able to control him at all, which will make them very uncomfortable.
Speaking of liver, although Zhu Houxun felt that he was not as good as Zhu Yuanzhang, he would use various modern methods to improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

Zhu Houxun is a complete hexagonal warrior. Which civil servant would not be confused when seeing him?

However, Zhu Houxuan also knew his own limitations. He secretly increased his defenses and the randomness of his daily sleep. After all, the legend that the Ming emperor was easily soluble in water and fire was too scary. Although he was only a prince regent now, it was better to be more cautious.
Although the legend that the Ming Emperor was easily soluble in water and fire was speculated by later generations, this speculation did not come out of thin air and there is some basis for it.

After all, a mediocre emperor is in the interests of civil servants and allows them to maximize their profits.

According to this standard, Zhu Houcong's personality traits are also the type that civil officials don't like. Judging from Zhu Houcong's experience in history, the legend that the Ming emperor was easily soluble in water and fire really doesn't seem to be groundless.
When Zhu Houcong was on a tour to the south, he encountered three fires in the palace along the way. The last fire was very large and started in the middle of the night. In the end, Lu Bing had to carry him on his back to escape the fire.
In fact, according to the development of history, it was a progress for civil officials to restrict and undermine the imperial power. However, judging from the historical process of later generations, it was obvious that civil officials were unable to make good use of the power they gained by restricting and undermining the imperial power.

Since Zhu Houxuan was ready to give up on being the regent and wanted to achieve some results with his imperial power, he had to seize power from the civil officials. Otherwise, he would not be able to accomplish anything because what he did would affect the interests of the gentry.

Although the civil officials had built a high enough barrier to limit the imperial power, Zhu Houxuan still wanted to give it a try.

He also had a deep understanding of power, and everything he was doing now was very simple, which was to try to seize power by submitting memorials to the emperor.

The false reporting of disasters was just the beginning. The Ming Dynasty is now almost 150 years old. It looks quite prosperous on the surface, but many parts of it are rotten.

There are many things that can't be stopped if the weight is not as heavy as 4 taels, but as heavy as 4,000 jin. Zhu Houxuan wants to use his own advantages to slowly uncover these poisonous sores.

This has always been Zhu Houxuan's style of doing things. He disdains to use any conspiracy or tricks. He has always used open and aboveboard strategies to deal with his enemies.

Zhu Houxuan looked at the entire capital city in turmoil because of the false reporting of the disaster, and felt that it was not enough. Only three departments were active, and many other departments in the court were still as peaceful as before.
We have to get them all moving! Zhu Houxuan thought to himself. But how can we get them all moving? Zhu Houxuan gradually came up with an idea.
After a morning court session ended, the important officials who attended the session withdrew amid ceremony and music.

Zhu Houxuan suddenly stood up and said, "Master Shi Jie, please stay!"

The Minister of Revenue Shi Jie froze in place for a moment. The ministers around him had different reactions. Many of them looked at Shi Jie and wished him well. Now no one dared to underestimate Zhu Houxuan.

"Your Highness is calling me." Shi Jie turned around and immediately changed his expression.

"That's right." Zhu Houxuan walked to Shi Jie and said with a smile.

"May I ask what Your Highness wants me to do for you?" Shi Jie asked neither arrogantly nor humbly.

"Master Shi, are you going back to the Ministry of Revenue?"

"Exactly."

"Then I will walk with Master Shi for a while, and we can talk while we walk."

"It is an honor for this old minister." Shi Jie began to become alert.

After the two of them walked out of Fengtian Hall, Zhu Houxuan slowly spoke.
"There's nothing else. I'm just curious about how the Ministry of Revenue of my Ming Dynasty operates, and I want to go to the Ministry of Revenue to take a look," Zhu Houxuan said gently.

Shi Jie's mind raced. He was not naive enough to think that Zhu Houxuan was just going there to take a look.
"Your Highness is worth a ton of gold, and the Ministry of Revenue's office is small and messy." Shi Jie subconsciously wanted to refuse politely.

"It's okay, I don't care about these." Zhu Houxuan interrupted immediately.

Shi Jie couldn't say no now, and Zhu Houxuan looked like he had made up his mind, and he wouldn't back down just because of his words.
The ministers who had retired from court looked at the two of them from afar, which made Shi Jie feel very uncomfortable.

Shi Jie was from Northern Zhili, and Zhu Houxuan chatted with him about the scenery around the capital.
Shi Jie had no choice but to cheer up and chat with Zhu Houxuan.

The six ministries are not far from the imperial palace. Just exit Chengtian Gate, cross Chang'an Avenue, and walk east for a while to reach the destination.

That is the location of the National Museum to the east of the modern Tiananmen Square, and the offices of the six ministries were all crowded in this area.

Zhu Houxuan's sudden arrival made the officials and clerks in the six ministries nervous.
The reason I updated this time is because I fell asleep while writing last night.
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(End of this chapter)