The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 104 How to employ people
Although the prince has not yet been officially enthroned, many things are progressing in an orderly manner.

Previously, it was the Crown Prince Zhu Biao who had the greatest influence in the court, but now other members of the royal family are beginning to come to the fore.

Zhu Chong and others will definitely not have much influence in the court, but the influence brought by these princes must not be underestimated.

Firefighter Ma Xun entered the palace again, but this time he did not attend court.

He first went to the Wuying Hall and carefully discussed the ceremony of enthroning the prince with Zhu Yuanzhang, and basically determined the answer.

The ceremony was basically the same as the one for enthroning a crown prince, except that only the golden book was given and not the imperial seal.

This is slightly different from the crown prince. I won’t say much about the crown and robes. Zhu Yuanzhang’s sons can all wear the same specifications.

"Brother-in-law, General Chang doesn't dare to teach the second brother some military tactics." Ma Xun also spoke up, "He means that he won't teach unless you or Biao'er gives the order."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked with a smile, "Why don't you let them go find Xu Da? Bao'er is also very capable, and he is also their cousin. With Bao'er's personality, he will definitely be willing to take care of his brothers."

It seems that it is really as Chang Yuchun said. These princes can be given enough preferential treatment, but they must keep their distance from some sensitive military factions.

Xu Da was the number one military general in the Ming Dynasty, and Chang Yuchun was another leader, and they were almost on par with each other.

As the other of the three horses, Li Wenzhong is essentially independent from the other two factions, so everyone just needs to keep a certain distance from him.

As for Deng Yu, Tang He, Feng Sheng, Liao Yongzhong and others, they are at most small factions and can ask the troika to give them a little face.

Ma Xun knew what was going on, so he said, "I guess that's the case. You have to explain it to Brother Chang. Otherwise, if he doesn't want to teach me the real skills, I won't be able to teach him even if I want to."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Remember this, they have enough skills, but they need to be taught more about character."

Ma Xun naturally thought so too. Otherwise, if these guys ran to their fiefdom, they might let themselves go and become humanoid creatures.

However, Ma Xun was still worried. "Brother-in-law, when I heard the second brother and the others talking about military affairs, they all had their own opinions, and their strategies for deploying troops were also different."

"Don't worry about that. Tiande and Boren use their troops differently, and Baoer uses his own way. As long as we can win, that's fine." Zhu Yuanzhang said, "You should understand the principle of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. There's no need to make the second brother use the same way."

Ma Xun was reassured. Whether it was the ceremony of enthroning the prince that Tao Kai, the Minister of Rites, was worried about, or the prince's contact with generals that Chang Yuchun was cautious about, these were not a problem.

Seeing Ma Xun was about to leave, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly said, "Prime Minister Li will be returning to Beijing in the next two days. Maybe he will come to your house to visit."

Ma Xun was stunned for a moment, "Why is he coming back?"

"Your nephews are going to be crowned as kings. Can Prime Minister Li be at ease?" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile, "He was in charge of the coronation ceremony, and he had previously agreed on the general process of conferring the title of prince."

There seems to be nothing wrong with this statement, because Li Shanchang was involved in a series of major events before and after the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Ma Xun said with some concern, "He only took more than half a year to recover from his illness. Is he cured already?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said jokingly, "Whether he is sick or not, don't you know better than others?"

Ma Xun asked cautiously, "Brother-in-law, he wants to come to my place and ask me to feel his pulse. Should I say he is sick or he is well?"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and asked, "What do you think? Do you want to cure his illness or make him better?"

"I think it would be better if he stayed sick all the time." Ma Xun suddenly felt something was wrong. "Your Majesty, I am not a good doctor. How can I tell if someone is sick when they are not sick?"

Seeing that Ma Xun was getting anxious, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said, "I'm afraid that my Prime Minister Li has found a reason to return to Beijing and plans to stay there."

Zhu Yuanzhang naturally knew what kind of person Li Shanchang was better than Ma Xun.

It is estimated that during the past six months at his hometown, Li Shanchang was often restless and felt that his days were long. Having tasted the power of ruling the world, how could he be content to be a rich man?

In the past, he had no reason, so he could only control his brother Li Cunyi and give Hu Weiyong guidance. Now he has found a reason to return to Beijing, and he will never go back no matter what.

Ma Xun asked, "Then should I continue to diagnose his illness?"

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed in silence, and then said, "Your medical skills have been wasted. If you continue to diagnose diseases, how will people view you in the future?"

Ma Xun said nonchalantly, "I only have limited medical skills, so I don't care what others say."

Ma Xun said this sincerely. Although he had made up for some medical knowledge, he still could not boast that he was a famous doctor.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang disagreed and said, "If he is really ill, you can see it. If he is not ill, then he is not ill. I am afraid that Li Shanchang will not dare to pretend to be ill again in the future."

Before this, it cannot be said that he was faking illness. It was normal to have a cold occasionally, but Li Shanchang at that time would exaggerate minor illnesses, which could be considered a tactic of retreating to advance.

But at the beginning of the year, Ma Xun discovered that he was sick, and Li Shanchang had learned his lesson. In the future, even if he was sick, he would bear it and would never dare to let Ma Xun see a doctor again. It would be better to kill him than to let him retire and return home!

If you don't have real power, life would be worse than death!

Ma Xun was not sure about Li Shanchang's ambitions.

But since the emperor said so, Ma Xun naturally told the truth. If he could see the problem, then he could see it. If he couldn't see it, then there was no disease.

Zhu Yuanzhang then added, "You know whether Liu Bowen is sick or not. If he is fine, don't let him see his illness. It will be bad for your reputation. It's ridiculous to always find out his illness and let him retire!"

Ma Xun quickly tried to please him by saying, "Brother-in-law is teaching me a lesson for being petty."

"Now that Prime Minister Li is back, Liu Bowen should retire." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said, "These people cannot be of the same mind as me. I know all the twists and turns in their hearts."

Ma Xun was still quite happy because Liu Bowen retired and returned home normally, which was a good thing for everyone.

After the important matters were discussed, Ma Xun left decisively, and he didn't need to take care of the rest.

Instead of going to Rouyi Palace, Ma Xun ran to Wenhua Palace first, "Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Uncle." Zhu Biao smiled and put down the brush in his hand, saying, "If you are here to ask my brothers about learning military tactics, then you have come here in vain. I just sent a letter to General Chang."

Ma Xun smiled and said, "He is unsure, and neither am I, so it would be best if I could come and ask."

Zhu Biao said seriously, "What I hope most is that my brothers can be successful and help me more in the future."

With Zhu Biao's words, Ma Xun naturally felt more at ease, "I will definitely not hide anything, and I don't have much ability to hide anything. As for General Chang, I think he will definitely teach me everything I need to know."

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "In fact, time is tight. There are still wars in the past two years. The generals in the army don't have much time to return to the capital. I can only let my brothers seize the time to study."

These are also facts. After all, the founding of the Ming Dynasty is one thing, and conquering wars is another. These are two different things.

It is also very necessary to let Zhu Chong and others seize the time to learn more skills.

Ma Xun continued, "I mentioned this in the court before. I plan to transfer Chen Zhidong and others to the academy so that they can be promoted."

Zhu Biao asked carefully, "Uncle, what do you think?"

Ma Xun expressed his thoughts, "Medical officers can also ensure the morale and combat effectiveness of the army. Soldiers are not necessarily afraid of dying in battle, but they are afraid of being injured or disabled and no one will take care of them. If they are disabled, the court will provide pensions, etc. If the injured are ignored, the morale of the army will be lost."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "That's true. Although there were medical officers and medical assistants in the army before, there were still not enough of them. Especially after the war, there will be many wounded soldiers, and many of them can only take care of each other."

Ma Xun said quickly, "I am worried about these things. These people are only taking care of the wounded. They are not meticulous enough, let alone professional."

It's enough, and other people do the same.

There are too many people who have such thoughts. To put it nicely, it means they are just following the crowd; to put it bluntly, it means they are just muddling along.

Forget about wasting time and effort to come up with a better solution. Leave those troublesome matters to those smart people who are in high positions. It is also good to maintain the current situation, and everyone is safe.

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Uncle is right. The wounded are also soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. We should take good care of them."

"I have arranged for some people in the school to learn about epidemic prevention. I think it's not just the road to Shu that's difficult when the imperial army goes to Yunnan and Guizhou." Ma Xun said, "As for first aid and caring for the wounded, they can be used now."

Although emergency training is certainly not as good as nursing in later generations, it is at least more professional than some of the current medical officers and medical assistants.

After all, these people will be arranged to go to the wounded camp to take care of the wounded soldiers.

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "My parents always praise my uncle for his kindness. Before the army even set out, my uncle was already thinking about taking care of the wounded."

Ma Xun said quickly, "Your Highness, my men cannot wield knives to kill people. My words are not effective in the army, and I was counting on these men to go to the army and play a role in helping me make a name for myself."

Zhu Biao, a smart man, immediately understood what Ma Xun meant. "Don't worry, uncle. I will tell the generals to use the people you taught me in the way you taught me."

This cannot be blamed on Ma Xun for thinking too much, but the inertia of thinking is sometimes difficult to reverse.

He trained 'nurses', but now the Ming army has medical officers and medical assistants, so their positioning is different.

But then Zhu Biao smiled and said, "My uncle still has some prestige in the army. Even if my uncle goes to speak, the officers will listen."

"That's different. My words don't carry enough weight." Ma Xun said with a smile, "If you treat more wounded soldiers, these people should be grateful to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

(End of this chapter)