Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 547 Personnel Adjustment
The father-son relationship between Zhu Houzhao and Emperor Hongzhi was worthy of Chen Ce's envy. Such feelings might be nothing in an ordinary family, but just the indulgence of a doting father to his child.

But Zhu Houzhao was the crown prince, and Emperor Hongzhi was the emperor! It is said that the royal family is ruthless, but this is not the case with Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao.

Chen Ce looked at Zhu Houzhao deeply, and said with a smile: "The emperor didn't scold me. It was just too cold and I was a little frozen."

Chen Ce made up an excuse to put Zhu Houzhao off, mainly because he didn't know how to tell Zhu Houzhao the news that his father was seriously ill and was afraid that Zhu Houzhao could not bear it.

Zhu Houzhao took off his tiger-skin cloak and put it on Chen Ce, saying, "If it's cold, just put on more clothes. Talk to the eunuchs. If anyone dares not to give you clothes, I will punish him!"

Chen Ce felt a little warm in his heart, with a warm smile on his face, he said softly: "Thank you, Your Highness."

"You should go and see the emperor. He has been very tired recently. Please stay with him for a while."

Zhu Houzhao smiled indifferently and said, "I have already told my father, why bother with so much effort? Can't we just let the ministers do it?"

"Okay, little brother, if you have something to do, go back first. I have something to do with my father."

Chen Ce hummed, staring at Zhu Houzhao's back as he walked towards the warm room. When Zhu Houzhao was almost there, he turned back to look at Chen Ce. Seeing that Chen Ce was still staring at him, he smiled and said, "Little brother, are you so reluctant to leave me? Hehe, I'll go and play with you in a couple of days when I'm free."

Chen Ce: "Okay."

……

Warm pavilion.

Emperor Hongzhi was leaning on the couch, his face pale and listless. When he heard that Zhu Houzhao had arrived, he forced himself to stay alert and asked with a smile, "What are you doing here?"

"Did you just meet Chun Jian?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Yes, father, you are really a fool. When my little brother left the warm room just now, he said it was very cold. Why didn't you give him a cotton jacket to put on when he returned? It's still chilly outside in spring."

Emperor Hongzhi was stunned for a moment, then he uttered an "oh" and said, "It's my fault."

"Did he say anything else to you?"

Zhu Houzhao shook his head and said, "That's not the case... Well, Father, I'm getting married soon. Can I not study with Teacher Fei during this period?"

"I want to go out and play."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded: "It's up to you."

Huh?
Why has the emperor changed his character today? He was not like this before.

Zhu Houzhao asked tentatively: "Can I leave Beijing?"

Emperor Hongzhi shook his head weakly and said, "That's definitely not possible."

If it was before, he would have been furious to hear Zhu Houzhao's ridiculous words, but now he was rarely angry, and just patiently taught him: "You are the prince, your safety is related to the future of the Ming Dynasty. It's not that I don't let you go out, it's that you can't go out."

"Of course, I know you will be safe when you go out, but what if? I am afraid of this possibility, and so are all the officials."

"Hou Zhao, as descendants of the Zhu family and members of the Ming Dynasty's royal family, we cannot act so willfully. You yearn for a free and unfettered life outside, but there are still many people who yearn for life inside the palace."

"When your mother was choosing a crown princess for you, did you know how many people were looking forward to entering the palace? If one person succeeds, everyone else will benefit, all because of you."

"You must be obedient and inherit the throne safely in the future. This is better than anything else."

Zhu Houzhao pursed his lips and said unhappily, "If the emperor doesn't want me to go out and play, just tell him directly. Why are you saying so many reasons? I would have thought you were leaving your last words."

Emperor Hongzhi: “…” To be honest, if a crown prince is replaced, the words are spoken in the morning and the crown prince is deposed in the afternoon. Only Zhu Houzhao would not do this!

Emperor Hongzhi thought for a moment and said to Zhu Houzhao, "I allow you to leave the palace, but you can only stay in Shuntian Prefecture and cannot leave Beiping."

Zhu Houzhao compromised and nodded, "Okay then."

"Oh, by the way, Father, didn't you deduct my pocket money? Recently, my little brother opened a toy store for me, and I made a lot of money again... Hehe!"

"Father, I'm going to play. Don't work yourself up. Look how bad you look. Go get some rest."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded, watched Zhu Houzhao leave, and sighed slightly.

"Go and call Li Dongyang."

Emperor Hongzhi issued orders to the outside world.

……

It was the fifth day of the New Year and all officials had not yet officially taken up their duties. Li Dongyang arrived relatively late. After all, he was not on duty in the palace and was resting in his own residence.

Upon hearing that Emperor Hongzhi summoned him, he hurried from his mansion to the warm room.

"I am here to see you, Your Majesty."

Li Dongyang couldn't help but feel curious. He wondered why Emperor Hongzhi summoned him at this time.

Emperor Hongzhi said to Li Dongyang: "Binzhi, you have also heard about Mr. Xu's passing. After the new year begins, I plan to make some adjustments to the six ministries."

"Give me a list of names and the adjustment plan for the six ministries in the next few days. After the court session begins, I will call you to hold a small court meeting to reallocate and integrate the personnel of the six ministries."

Li Dongyang cupped his hands and said, "I obey your order."

He did not think that Emperor Hongzhi had any extra intention in doing these things. After all, after the death of the Minister of Works Xu Guan, the Ministry of Works became vacant, and the positions of the six ministers should indeed be moved. This was an unwritten rule of the Ming Dynasty to prevent certain ministers from staying in one government office for too long and becoming autocratic and arbitrary.

The candidates for the remaining departments are easy to decide, it’s nothing more than rotation among the six departments, but the problem now is that a Shangshu needs to be nominated, and Li Dongyang needs to carefully evaluate this candidate.

……

Since the Ming Dynasty stipulated the ethnic migration policy in Liaodong in the 16th year of Hongzhi, in just half a year, many people from the wild Jurchen tribes migrated to the two capitals and thirteen provinces in the inland area.

These people were either engaged in business, farming or employed. In short, they were no longer affected by the harsh environment outside the Liaodong Pass. After migrating to the inland, the lives of the people in these Jurchen tribes became better and better.

Some people even began to prepare for the imperial examinations to become officials of the Ming Dynasty.

At the end of this year, a large number of people had already started to return home. Through word of mouth, at the beginning of the 17th year of Hongzhi, more and more people from the Jurchen tribes were eager to try, and most of them were preparing to leave Liaodong this year and seek development inland.

This situation is not limited to the Wild Jurchen tribes, but also to the Jianzhou Jurchen and Haixi Jurchen tribes. Many tribal people have flocked to the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty since this year.

This was undoubtedly another severe blow to the ambitious Jianzhou Jurchen and Haixi Jurchen tribes.

Last year, the imperial court extended favors to two Jurchen tribes and allowed their descendants to break away from tribal management, each of which commanded a portion of the military forces to guard against each other.

Now that so many people are scrambling to flee Liaodong, it is obvious that the Jurchen tribes are almost destroyed by these two brilliant policies of the Ming Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)