The stupid son of Chongba

Chapter 160 If the eldest brother is in poor health, the emperor might really choose the sixth brother as the crown prince

"Your Highness, this guy runs pretty fast."

Mao Xiang was holding a man with a black bag tied to his head and said with a smile,
"When I found him, he had already run away outside Yingtian City! Fortunately, it was the Imperial Guards who did the job. If it was someone else, he might have really run away!"

As he spoke, he pulled the bag off, revealing the head inside.

It was a familiar round face with a panicked look on it.

"Doctor Fan, do you know me?"

Zhu Ju walked closer and said with a fake smile,

"We just met."

Doctor Fan was looking at a loss, but when he saw Zhu Ju's face, he was suddenly startled and almost jumped up!

"You, you, you! You just...just now..."

boom!
As he was stammering, Zhu Ju kicked him in the heart!

"Damn it, how dare you lie to me!"

"Is it so easy to cheat me out of my money? Damn it!"

boom! boom! boom!
Zhu Ju kicked Doctor Fan four or five times in a row, causing him to roll his eyes but he still felt unsatisfied.

If it weren't for this bastard, I wouldn't have made such a big mistake today. Now, I have been directly burdened with the task of giving birth to a baby!
It’s all this guy’s fault!

"Master! Oh no... Master! Master, spare my life!"

"I, I, I... I was bewitched for a moment, I was blinded by greed! I deserve to die, I am not a human being!"

Doctor Fan covered his chest with his hands, his expression painful, but he still knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
"Please forgive my mistakes, I...ah!"

boom!
Before he could finish his words, Zhu Ju kicked him again with a huge kick, causing him to wail and scream!
"Where's my money?"

Zhu Ju retracted his foot and said viciously.

The quality of these boots is not good. The stitching broke after just a few kicks!

Those guys in the Needlework Bureau should also be punished!

"Your Highness, they are all in his bag. He packed up his belongings and ran away."

Mao Xiang laughed and said,

"There are more than three hundred taels of silver in total... It can be seen that this old man is indeed a black-hearted doctor. How can an ordinary doctor have so much money?"

"Look."

As he spoke, he handed the package in his hand to Zhu Ju.

When Zhu Ju opened it, he saw that it was full of white silver, emitting a bluish-white luster.

"Do you think you can cheat me out of my money? Even if you run away to the ends of the earth, I can still catch you back!"

He snorted coldly, threw the package to Mao Xiang, and said,

"Here's a reward for you! Share it with the brothers who are here to help!"

One hundred taels of silver was nothing to him. The main thing was that he was so upset about being cheated!

This tone, come out!

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Mao Xiang took the package happily.

The several imperial guards following behind him also laughed! Just for such a small arrest mission, they got so much reward money.

After all, following His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu, you can enjoy a good life!

"Your Highness, what are you going to do with this guy?"

Mao Xiang said respectfully,
"Why don't we invite him to come over to our place?"

"I promise you that I will use all means to relieve your anger!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ju waved his hand.

"That's not necessary. I know your place. Even a tough guy would suffer a lot if he went in. This old guy is just a profiteer, not a heinous criminal."

He said,

"We cultivators are compassionate. Now that we have gotten rid of our anger, there is no need to torment others any further."

Hearing this, Doctor Fan seemed to have seen a life-saving straw and said excitedly:
"Uncle! You are truly a living Bodhisattva!"

"When I get back, I will offer you a longevity tablet and pay tribute to you day and night. I..."

"Bah!" Zhu Ju spat.

"Who the hell wants to be worshipped in your house? You want to worship me, but I despise you!"

"Get up! Stop pretending! I have a few questions for you. If you answer them well, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself! If you don't answer them well, you can go to jail!"

Doctor Fan: “!!!”

This sentence made him completely obedient. Regardless of the pain in his body, he stood up tremblingly.

"You said, you said..."

"hiss……"

Those kicks on his heart were really strong. He still has trouble breathing even now!
"Let me ask you, putting aside the idea of ​​cheating people, are you really good at treating gynecological diseases?"

Zhu Ju crossed his arms and asked.

Doctor Fan was slightly stunned when he heard this, then nodded repeatedly.

"I am good at it, of course I am good at it!"

He said hurriedly,
"I am guilty. I just had evil thoughts because I saw that you and your wife had extraordinary temperaments!"

"In fact, Madam is very healthy, there is nothing wrong with her! She just has some liver qi stagnation, and it will be fine after some liver qi stagnation!"

Zhu Ju nodded slightly.

This judgment is exactly the same as Master's. It seems that he is indeed quite capable.

Without some skills, you can't open a clinic next to a brothel. The women there suffer from the most gynecological diseases. The fact that this old man can still stand firm and has so many repeat customers who spend a lot of money to buy medicine shows that he has some skills.

"You are considered a specialist doctor. Where did you study?"

Zhu Ju asked again.

Doctor Fan scratched his head and said awkwardly:

"At first, I found a master to learn from. I...liked to do some tricks. Once, the master found out and kicked me out."

"Fortunately, I have learned a little from the master, but it is only a bit of a skill, not enough to open a clinic. Fortunately, I like to think about it... After thinking about it, I decided to find another way and specialize in treating women!"

Xu Miaoyun stood aside, looking somewhat unhappy.

This Doctor Fan has a really bad character! The so-called "little trick" is probably that he was caught stealing something from the master's house!
"A person like you is qualified to be a doctor?"

She couldn't help but scolded,
"Other doctors are here to save people, but what about you? You are greedy for money! You even specialize in treating women. I wonder how many good girls have been ruined by you!"

Doctor Fan shrank back immediately after being scolded.

"Madam...you are wrongly accusing me."

He said timidly,
"It's true that I'm greedy for money, but I've never been greedy for women! I'm not interested in women, I'm only interested in money..."

Xu Miaoyun rolled her eyes.

"I believe this. If you were interested in money, you would have been infected with syphilis long ago."

Zhu Ju smiled and said,

"Okay, keep talking!"

Doctor Fan nodded and said honestly:
"I wasn't very good at it at first, but treating women has one advantage. Even if you don't understand the cause of the disease and prescribe some random medicine, causing them to take the wrong medicine, they won't make a fuss. They come quietly and leave quietly, and are too embarrassed to talk about it with outsiders. Of course, I won't do anything to harm people. At most, I can cheat them out of some money and get some blood-replenishing and qi-replenishing medicine..."

Zhu Ju's face darkened.

"Just like you tricked me today, huh?"

Doctor Fan smiled awkwardly.

If you walk along the river often, you will get your feet wet. Today I hit a wall.

Originally, he had a set of mature rhetoric to deal with it, and he was not afraid even if he met a noble lady in the city, but she was a royal family! The officials had to listen to him!
Then you can only admit defeat.

"go on!"

"Okay, okay... Later, I saw more and more patients, so I naturally had enough experience. To put it bluntly, I have tried and found out which prescriptions are effective and which are not. So, after practicing medicine for so many years, I have some experience. I am not bragging, but in the whole Yingtian Prefecture, if I say I am the best at treating women's diseases, no one dares to say I am the best!"

Zhu Ju touched his chin.

That's true. There are a large number of cases where mediocre doctors can evolve into good doctors. Although they have cheated many people along the way, at least their level has improved.

This is why it is said that doctors become more popular as they get older.

"Okay, as long as you're not a pure fake."

Zhu Ju nodded, then turned to look at Xu Miaoyun and said,
"Wife, I have some feelings about what happened today... We are not smart, but at least we are not stupid. However, in a desperate situation today, we were still deceived by this bastard. What does this mean? It means that we have no common sense in gynecology!"

"Just now I heard my mother talking to your mother, and they echoed each other! It's just my imagination! Middle-aged women like them don't have any common sense! They have to rely on my master to teach them."

Xu Miaoyun looked a little embarrassed.

That response just now...she was also involved.

"So, I have an idea... We need to develop gynecology and obstetrics in Daming!"

Zhu Ju said seriously,
"Although the overall medical level of the Ming Dynasty is not very good and needs to be improved, I think the development of gynecology and obstetrics should be at the forefront!"

"To put it in a broader sense, it's for the long-term development of our Ming Dynasty. After the war, the country has a lot of work to do, especially the population needs to increase! That all depends on women! If we develop gynecology, they will get sick less, and if we develop obstetrics, the risk of having children will be lower! In this way, won't the birth rate of Ming Dynasty go up all of a sudden?"

"To put it mildly, it is also for the quality of life of every woman. Although I am not a woman and have never had gynecological diseases, I can imagine that it must be very uncomfortable. There is no place to treat the disease, and it is easy to be cheated if you find someone to treat it. In addition, you are ashamed to talk about it with others. It is really miserable! This situation must be reversed!"

Xu Miaoyun was slightly stunned.

She didn't expect that Zhu Ju would actually consider this aspect!

She couldn't help but feel a warm current rising in her heart, and she felt a different kind of respect.

Let me ask, which grown man would consider women like this?
Father Xu Da is fine, right? But he never asked about my mother's health, at most he just said a few words of concern.

Even a noblewoman like my mother would have unspeakable illnesses and could only endure it silently...

Because this is often considered a sign of female uncleanliness! If the word of such a disease spreads, rumors may spread.

"My dear, you are so nice..."

She whispered softly and snuggled gently into Zhu Ju's arms.

I thought my husband was a playful, trouble-making man, but I didn't expect... he was actually the most gentle man in the world!
"Hehe, actually I still prefer to hear you call me husband."

Zhu Ju smiled and patted Xu Miaoyun's shoulder gently.

In my position, this kind of thing is just a small matter to be honest. However, this "small matter" is a great benefit to the majority of women!

If you want to become a celestial being, you should do 1,300 good deeds!

For myself, this can be considered as doing good deeds for the welfare of women, right?
Thinking happily in his heart, Zhu Ju pointed at Doctor Fan in front of him and asked,

"By the way, what's your name?"

"To answer your question, my name is Fan Zheng."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ju couldn't help but sneer.

"You're still calling me Fan Zheng, but I don't think you're doing anything right!"

He raised his head and said,

"However, I can give you a chance to mend your ways. It depends on whether you can seize it!"

When Fan Zheng heard this, he immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly!

"I can grasp it, I can grasp it!"

"As long as you give me your orders, I will go through fire and water for you!"

He almost went to jail, and now he is thankful as long as he can be alive and well!

"You don't have to go through fire and water, you just need to be a good teacher."

Zhu Ju said seriously,
"Your mission is to use your skills to train a few gynecologists! And teach gynecological knowledge to the women in Yingtian regularly! Of course, it would be even better if you can compile a medical book. If you can really compile it, it will be considered a good deed for you."

When Fan Zheng heard this, he suddenly looked a little embarrassed.

"This...editing a book?"

"Master, if you want me to teach a few apprentices, I can do that, but compiling a book... that's something only medical experts can do. With my mediocre medical skills, how can I compile a book?"

Zhu Ju laughed.

"I'm not asking you to compile Huangdi Neijing or Shanghan Zabing Lun. I'm just asking you to compile a small booklet to include all your experiences in gynecology."

He said,

"If you write too profound, ordinary people won't understand it! We need it to be easy to understand. You can write one sentence at a time and then organize it when the time comes!"

"Isn't this easy? I can give you plenty of time."

Hearing this, Fan Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

I know my own strengths and weaknesses. Even if I can't write a book, I can still make a common sense booklet.

"Miaoyun, I'll leave this matter to you."

Zhu Ju turned to Xu Miaoyun and said,

"Weren't you also learning acupuncture before? I was thinking, you should change your main focus to gynecology first, learn the basics first, and then I'll ask Master to give you some guidance later."

"In this way, with you as the leader, you can make good use of this wild-minded Fan Zheng and train several specialist doctors! The medical level of our Ming Dynasty is too poor, it can be said that there are loopholes everywhere! There are shortcomings everywhere! I have always wanted to fix it, let's start with gynecology and obstetrics! What do you think?"

Xu Miaoyun's eyes lit up.

"Yes, yes, I do!"

She even said,
"This is a very meaningful thing! It can benefit many women!"

Zhu Ju smiled and nodded.

In this way, Fan Zheng, an old man with rich clinical experience, can be said to have turned waste into treasure and made full use of waste!
……

A few days later.

Inside the main hall, several princes were reading books with sad faces, all of them looking absent-minded.

"It's full of nonsense, so boring. I think the military camp is more interesting!"

"Yeah! Although life in the military camp is a bit hard, it's fun! I can chat with those guys! It's much more interesting than studying hard here!"

"Who said it wasn't... I'm now eager to go to the feudal domain as soon as possible, and go hunting with my more than a thousand guards!"

"..."

It has been several days since we returned from Purple Mountain, but it can be seen that the princes have not yet come to their senses.

Even Zhu Di, who usually studied the hardest, was now resting his chin on his hand, with no focus on his studies.

He missed his more than two thousand personal guards!
Studying is painful, but leading soldiers is enjoyable! He enjoys the feeling of being among the soldiers!

At this moment, the sound of footsteps was heard.

"Hey, the groom is here!"

"Hahaha, come here, groom, sit down..."

Zhu Gang raised his eyes, immediately laughed, and waved to the person who came.

All the princes laughed. After hearing the three words "bridegroom", who among them didn't know who the visitor was?

Just yesterday, my father issued an imperial edict to announce to the world that on the eighth day of next month, King Wu Zhu Ju and General Xu Da's daughter Xu Miaoyun will be married!
"Don't talk nonsense!"

Zhu Ju scolded with a smile.

"I'm so pissed! You bastards want me to get married first instead of getting married first!"

"Why?"

Zhu Di also smiled when he heard this.

"Sixth brother, have you offended those old guys from the Imperial Observatory?"

He said,

"What about the strange movement of the stars in the sky and the wedding of the Lord Wu King? They just said it. Who knows what's going on?"

"I have never believed in the idea of ​​heaven and man communicating with each other. If I believed in it, I would be easily led by those Confucian scholars and astrologers!"

Zhu Ju spread his hands.

"I don't believe it either, but the old man does. What can I do?"

"Forget it, it doesn't matter! I have to get married sooner or later! By the time I give birth to a baby, all your kids will have to call my baby "big brother"! This can be considered catching up later, right? Haha!"

His attitude was quite good, and he seemed to be willing to accept the arrangements.

"...It seems that I have to talk to my mother later. You are getting married soon, but why is there no sign of my marriage yet?"

Zhu Gang suddenly frowned and said,
"Originally I wasn't in a hurry, but seeing you're so quick...tsk tsk."

"Fourth brother, fifth brother, we older brothers can't fall too far behind!"

Zhu Di curled his lips.

"Don't take me with you, I'll go with the flow."

"After that incident last time, I was ready to be single for the rest of my life! If my mother is willing to arrange a date for me, I will accept it, even if it's an ugly one!"

When the brothers heard this, they all looked a little strange.

Speaking of which, the person that the sixth brother is marrying now was originally destined for the fourth brother.

But by some strange coincidence, it was the Sixth Brother who got the beauty. I wonder if the Fourth Brother would secretly shed tears when he wakes up in his dreams at midnight?
"Okay, why are we talking about this?"

Zhu Di felt the strange looks from his brothers and felt a little uncomfortable. He quickly changed the subject and said,
"Sixth brother, I have been studying Gobang very hard recently, and I finally figured out a winning strategy!"

"Let's have a go? What do you think the bet is?"

When Zhu Ju heard this, he laughed and threw down his school bag.

"Okay! I haven't played for a long time, let me try it out first!"

"I'll let you go first, go ahead!"

After spending some time together, the relationship between him and these brothers has become much closer. It can't be said that their friendship is stronger than iron, but they can still play normally with each other.

Wow!

Zhu Di brought up the chessboard and was about to make a move when he heard footsteps outside.

I saw a eunuch walk into the main hall and said respectfully:

"Your Highness, King Wu, His Majesty has a message. Please go to the Huagai Palace."

Zhu Ju frowned when he heard this.

"What do you want me to do? I want to study!" The eunuch clasped his hands and said:
"Your Majesty has summoned you. Your Highness can put your studies aside for the time being."

"Please follow me quickly."

pat.

Zhu Ju threw down the chess piece and said with an unhappy look:
"It's probably just asking me to do hard labor again, really..."

"Old Four! You guys go first, we'll play chess again later."

After saying this, he stood up, picked up his book bag, and left with the eunuch, leaving the princes looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Old Six is ​​really being put to good use now..."

When Zhu Gang saw Zhu Ju going away, he could not help but sigh,

"It seems that the importance that the emperor attaches to him is almost catching up with that of my eldest brother. What do you think?"

Zhu Su and Zhu Chong nodded.

"It's hard for us to see our father on weekdays, but he has taken over the position of the eldest brother and is by our father's side."

Zhu Chong said sourly,
"Father is obviously going to focus on training him. I heard that some people in the court are ready to curry favor with the Sixth Master."

"If Big Brother's health is really failing, he might be the next crown prince."

According to the order of priority, if Zhu Biao is not capable, he, the second in command, should take over.

However, the emperor simply ignored him, as well as the third, fourth, and fifth sons, and directly promoted the sixth son!
As he was also a prince, he naturally felt a little unwilling.

"Second brother, be careful with your words!"

Zhu Di scolded in a low voice,
"Don't say things like that! If someone hears you, you're doomed!"

Zhu Xi: "!!!"

After being reminded by Zhu Di, he realized that he had complained too much, so he quickly shut his mouth and looked around with a guilty look on his face.

Fortunately, there was no one else in the main hall at this moment.

"I was just talking nonsense, I was just talking nonsense, just pretend you didn't hear me!"

He said hurriedly.

Zhu Di rolled his eyes.

"Sixth brother is favored, but he is just favored. He is not a threat to the position of eldest brother... What you said is nonsense. Besides, eldest brother's health is recovering now."

He whispered,

"Don't say such things anymore. It doesn't matter if we brothers hear it, but if it gets to the ears of the emperor, it will be bad for you and Lao Liu. Lao Liu will definitely hate you for gossiping behind his back!"

"You know how terrifying he is when he gets ruthless."

Zhu Chong’s face turned pale and he bowed repeatedly.

He had finally gotten out of the fear of being dominated by Zhu Ju, and he didn't want to fall into that horrible nightmare again!

"Let's play chess."

Zhu Su smiled innocently and said,
"I'll accompany you."

……

Inside the Huagai Palace.

Zhu Ju walked into the hall and was about to go to the side seat, but when he looked up, he saw Zhu Biao already sitting there.

"Big brother!"

Zhu Ju walked forward with a look of joy and said with a smile,
"Are you feeling better?"

Zhu Biao smiled slightly.

"Xiaojuzi, congratulations, you're getting married soon."

He said with a smile,

"Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, you are getting married, and I haven't even thought of a wedding gift for you yet."

When Zhu Ju heard this, he waved his hands repeatedly.

"Brother, what are you talking about? You are so kind to me, there is no need to prepare any special gifts!"

"As long as your health improves, you can eat more at my wedding banquet. That will be the greatest gift for me!"

Hearing this, Zhu Biao felt warm in his heart and gently stroked Zhu Ju's head.

He knew that his love for this younger brother was not in vain.

Zhu Yuanzhang also showed a smile on his face. As a vulgar man, he loved to see such warm scenes of brothers being friendly and respectful to each other.

"Dad, since my eldest brother can already help you, why did you ask me to come?"

Zhu Ju turned to look at Zhu Yuanzhang and said with a stern face,
"Can I quit my job now? That big lump hurts my hands!"

Zhu Yuanzhang: "..."

The smile lasted only three seconds before his face turned dark.

"What's that big lump? That's the imperial seal of our Ming Dynasty, the sacred imperial seal! Many people want to touch it but they are not qualified. But you, kid, actually dislike it because it hurts your hand!"

Old Zhu said angrily,
"Although your eldest brother has recovered a little, he can only watch and watch. He cannot worry too much, let alone work hard! So you still have to hold the imperial seal! It's just that we can have one more person to discuss matters."

"Since we have promoted you, we want to train you up. Don't just think about quitting. You can't quit your job!"

Zhu Ju curled his lips.

"Little brother, you have to be more considerate of Dad. There are indeed a lot of things going on recently."

Zhu Biao said softly,
"You went to the military camp half a month ago and didn't know the situation. It hasn't rained in Yingtian and the surrounding provinces for more than two months. The land is dry and has affected the harvest of crops. If it continues like this, I'm afraid this year will be a disaster year again."

"The Ming Dynasty was established not long ago, and the first two years were full of disasters. The people desperately need a good year to consolidate the country. The momentum in the first half of this year was originally good, but I didn't expect that after the middle of the year, the weather would not be good again."

"If the harvest is poor again, not only will tax revenues fall, but ordinary people will also have a hard time getting through the winter, and the situation will be dire."

Zhu Ju was slightly startled.

"Drought? What should we do?"

He spread his hands and said,

"If the weather is bad, then we can't make it rain, right?"

At this time, there is no such thing as artificial rainfall! Even if artificial rainfall is needed, it requires certain meteorological conditions.

"You can't force it, but you can ask for it."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up, put his hands behind his back and said,

"In every dynasty, when drought struck, the emperors would pray for rain, moving the gods with their sincerity."

"Some are effective, some are not. Most Taoists and alchemists explain that it has to do with sincerity."

"If you are sincere, your prayers will be successful and rain will fall from the sky. If you are not sincere, the drought will be worse and there will be even greater punishment!"

"This has already gained widespread popularity among the people and won the trust of the subjects. Therefore... many ministers have submitted petitions requesting us to set up an altar in the suburbs to pray for rain."

Zhu Ju scratched his head.

"This...if we fail, wouldn't it be very embarrassing?"

Impress God with sincerity?
He always felt that it was unreliable! Maybe it would be more reliable to activate the thunder method and ask the Thunder Department to make it rain!
"Yes, if we fail, it will not only be embarrassing, but also affect our prestige!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice,

"If I fail to pray for rain, some people will say that I am not virtuous enough, or that I am not good at governing the country, or even that I am not the emperor, and that I have no face in the eyes of God!"

"But if we succeed, there will be many benefits. It will immediately prove that I am destined to be the emperor, the true son of heaven, and loved by heaven!"

"Can you understand the pros and cons?"

Zhu Ju curled his lips.

Ok.

Feudal emperors had to constantly enhance the purity and sanctity of their legal system to ensure the submission and obedience of their subjects.

"The reason I called you here is to ask you if there is any way to ensure the success of the rain prayer."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked,
"Didn't you talk about this and that magic before? And the thunder magic you boasted was so miraculous, does it really work?"

When Zhu Ju heard this, he was a little stunned.

"Dad, why are you asking me this kind of question? I'm just a rookie!"

He said,

"If you want to ask, you have to ask my master!"

"He is a professional. Maybe he can use thunder magic to pray for rain."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head.

"No, what we want is not Peng Xuan to perform rituals to pray for rain, but for us to move the heavens with our sincerity and have them send down the rain, understand?"

Old Zhu said seriously,
"Can you understand the difference between the two?"

Zhu Ju: “…”

"I see. You always want to take this opportunity to show off, right?"

He understood and said,
"You were too embarrassed to tell my master directly, as that would make you look shameless, so you came to me and wanted me to talk to my master privately to help you with the secret operation and increase the chances of your prayer for rain being successful."

"Am I understanding this correctly?"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled awkwardly, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Hey, little brother, don't be so blunt..."

Zhu Biao touched his nose and coughed dryly.
"But the meaning is pretty much the same."

"After all, Dad is a commoner emperor... He always has to consider more."

"Go back and ask if Taoist Master Peng has any solution. If he succeeds, Dad will definitely not treat him unfairly!"

Zhu Ju nodded slightly.

"...Okay! I'll go ask Master. If it succeeds, it will be a good thing that will benefit the people."

He said,

"Anything else? Nothing, I'm going back to class."

Da da!

"Hey, hey, hey, when did you become so serious about studying? You studied hard even when you weren't required to! Who are you pretending to be for?"

Zhu Yuanzhang knocked on the table and said unhappily,
"I asked you to discuss this with me because I value your opinion! Don't underestimate it! Do you understand?"

"Sit down quietly, your father will take care of lunch!"

Zhu Ju had no choice but to sit obediently next to Zhu Biao.

The four words "idle prince"...seem to be getting further and further away.

Before he knew it, he had entered the highest decision-making level of the Ming Empire!

"Let's put aside the matter of praying for rain. There is another important event this year, and that is the imperial examination."

Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously,

"It seems that the people below are not very enthusiastic about the imperial examination. I have mentioned it several times at the court meetings, but only a few people responded."

"Can any of you tell me why this happened?"

Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Ju.

"Little brother, what can you say?"

He gave the opportunity to show off to his younger brother.

Zhu Ju did not refuse and said:
"Isn't this simple? They are afraid that those who are selected through the imperial examination will take away their resources and power."

"Without the imperial examination system, the only way to select officials is by recommendation, that is, the senior officials recommend the junior officials. Under this system, the junior officials will inevitably follow the lead of the senior officials who recommended them, and the power will still be held by the senior officials. As the saying goes, good things should be kept within the family!"

"After the imperial examination was opened, all the new Jinshi candidates were disciples of the emperor. They were only grateful to the emperor and ignored the elders in the court. Resources are limited, and official positions are like carrots, one carrot, one position, there are no more! If the positions are occupied by Jinshi candidates, the power of the elders will be reduced."

"How could they be willing to do that? It would be great if they didn't object!"

After hearing these words, Zhu Biao's eyes lit up in surprise and he clapped his hands.

"Well said! Brother, you hit the nail on the head!"

He praised,

"It seems that you are really talented in politics! And you are even better than me!"

"I've been thinking about this for a long time, but I can't explain it as clearly as you have said!"

Zhu Ju felt a little embarrassed after hearing this praise.

"No, no, big brother, you are too kind. I was just talking nonsense."

He is not that great, he just has a modern perspective and can look at the entire feudal dynasty! Moreover, it is written in the junior high school history textbook that the imperial examination system is of epoch-making significance to the feudal dynasty!

“When you speak well, you don’t have to be modest.”

Zhu Yuanzhang twisted his beard and hummed softly,

"You have some insight, kid. That's right! The ministers in the court are not interested in the imperial examination because it will damage their interests!"

"But this is exactly what we have to do! If we continue to use the recommendation system, then by then the whole court will be controlled by them. What will we become? We will just become puppets!"

"So, the more they are unwilling, the more we have to do it! Just as you said, we need a group of disciples who are grateful to us, not a bunch of old-timers who rest on their laurels and plan to eat for the rest of their lives!"

"So, the imperial examination cannot be delayed any longer!"

Zhu Biao nodded.

"Dad, I think so too."

He said,

"Some of the upright officials in the court are quite supportive of the imperial examination, such as Master Song, Master Liu, as well as some censors and Hanlin scholars."

"I think we can let Master Song be the chief examiner and Master Liu be the deputy chief examiner to organize the first imperial examination in Ming Dynasty. What do you think?"

Hearing this, Zhu Ju's eyes lit up.

"Brother, great minds think alike!"

"I also told my father at the time that these two are fair and honest, and highly talented, and can take on this important task!"

Zhu Biao turned around and the two brothers smiled at each other.

"Haha, you guys are still thinking too perfectly."

Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard and said,

"The imperial examination is a popular thing. The chief examiner and the deputy chief examiner are both good jobs. There is an unwritten rule among the scholars of the Song and Yuan dynasties that they worship the chief examiner of that year as their teacher. You should know something about this, right?"

"If all these benefits are taken by Liu Bowen and Song Lian, will those people in Huaixi be willing to accept it?"

"Besides, we don't want all the scholars of the first imperial examination to become disciples of Song Lian and Liu Bowen. We still have to distribute them evenly... We have been too cold to Li Shanchang recently. This time, we should use him. If we want these ministers to work for us, we should give them some sweet treats occasionally."

"What do you think of letting Li Shanchang be the chief examiner and Song Lian be the deputy chief examiner?"

Old Zhu's words can be said to be plain words spoken only to his son behind closed doors. They are straightforward, without any beating around the bush or evasion.

The purpose is to let his sons take control of the core of governance!

Now that we have grasped the core, it will be easy to whitewash it in front of others in the future, right?

"My son agrees."

Zhu Biao nodded and smiled.
"If Dad hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten that there was a senior official named Li Shanchang in the court. When you were the King of Wu, he was the Prime Minister. But now that you've become the Emperor, he's not as good as before. I think he must be unhappy."

"It would be good to activate him, to show that you haven't forgotten his contributions as a veteran."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he snorted.

"Thunderbolts and raindrops are all grace from the emperor! The reason why we have always been reluctant to give Li Shanchang the position of prime minister is because he is a humble person with a proud heart, and he has many students and former officials. If we give him too much power, it will be easy for him to become too powerful."

He said,

"However, we will not be stingy with what we should give him. After we confer titles on our meritorious officials, we will let him be the right prime minister. Anyway, this old man is already in his early sixties. He will have to retire and return home in two years."

"As for the Left Prime Minister, we plan to let Xu Da take the position. Although he is a military commander, he is introverted and serious. We have tested him many times, and he has always been humble and respectful. Even after returning with the credit for the Northern Expedition, he has not shown any intention of taking credit for himself."

"Until now, the minister we trust the most is Xu Da! It is perfect for him, a military commander, to be the left prime minister and suppress those officials!"

Zhu Biao's eyes lit up when he heard this.

"Father's plan is brilliant!"

He praised,

"It may seem a little strange to let Uncle Xu serve as the left prime minister at first glance, but if you think about it carefully, it is reasonable and can stabilize the court."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly.

"When you are an emperor, the most important thing is to judge people and use them. If you put the right people in the right positions, you can be called a wise ruler."

He said in a deep voice,

"Ever since I was fooled by Yang Xian, I no longer have any trust in the ministers under me. I can use them, but I cannot trust them!"

"Now, the only people I can truly trust are you brothers and your mother. Xu Da and Tang He... barely count, after all, we have been brothers for so many years. I hope they won't let me down..."

One can tell that there is a hint of loneliness and sigh in Zhu Yuanzhang's tone.

The emperor, perhaps he really deserves to be called alone...

Fortunately, he still has a wife and children who are absolutely trustworthy and can give him some warmth.

"Dad, no matter what happens, my little brother and I will always support you. We will work together to help you solve your problems!"

"Brother, you said so!"

"Little brother?"

Zhu Biao expressed his opinion and was about to pull Zhu Ju to join him, but he saw that Zhu Ju had fallen asleep on the table with the Ming Dynasty seal still in his hand.

He slept soundly, and his saliva flowed out, and it had already flowed onto the jade seal...

Zhu Biao: "..."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "!!!"

"My old seal!"

"Get his mouth out of our way! How dare you, little brat, sleep here? You really think our Huagai Palace is your residence!"

"Biao'er, slap him twice to wake him up!"

Old Zhu was furious at this moment!

The sacred imperial seal of the Ming Dynasty was defiled by Zhu Ju's saliva!

(End of this chapter)