Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 190 Zhu Yuanzhang: I studied abroad in modern times

What surprised them most and was the least willing to accept was the emperor's determination not to let the emperor and the scholar-officials share the world.

Prior to this, based on the emperor's various actions, many people already knew that it would not be easy to get Zhu Yuanzhang to agree to a system of shared rule between the emperor and the scholar-officials.

Zhu Yuanzhang was absolutely determined on this matter.

But no matter what, there is still some hope.

But now Zhu Yuanzhang has said such a thing, which is tantamount to telling everyone directly that for him, the idea of ​​the emperor and the scholar-officials sharing the world is just a pipe dream!
Totally impossible.

This made everyone present give up on the idea.

The emperor even attributed the Song Dynasty's repeated defeats and the resulting frustration to the issue of the emperor and the scholar-officials sharing the empire.

How unfair this is!

This is simply a case of trumped-up charges; they can always find a pretext!

Why can't we look at how many benefits the emperor and the scholar-officials brought about by sharing the world?
If it weren't for the fact that the emperor and the scholar-officials shared the world, so many scholars would have been willing to live and die for the Song emperor.

How could the Song Dynasty have lasted for more than three hundred years?
In this respect, it can be said that it surpasses the Tang Dynasty!
"Your Majesty, there are many benefits to the monarch sharing the empire with the scholar-officials."

The emperor and the scholar-officials shared the empire, and many famous ministers emerged, such as Bao Zheng, Han Qi, Fan Zhongyan, and Wang Anshi…

At this moment, someone couldn't help but speak up to Zhu Yuanzhang.

When it comes to these famous officials, they can recite their names as if they were reciting a menu.

They could not tolerate Zhu Yuanzhang's failure to implement the principle of the emperor and scholar-officials sharing the empire, and his subsequent slander of this very idea.

I couldn't stand it anymore.

It is necessary to prove this matter at this time.

"The literary style of the Song Dynasty flourished, reaching a peak..."

"And then what? What's the point?"

They were repeatedly defeated and routed, and the Song Dynasty never managed to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun.

They even managed to smuggle people out of the Western Xia and establish their own regime.

We keep losing money.

They even formed a brotherhood with the Liao people. Aren't all these things shameful enough?
It has suffered various humiliating attempts to appease foreign powers and has been repeatedly beaten.

Internally, they launched a heavy crackdown and acted arrogantly and domineeringly.

What, do you want my Ming Dynasty to become like this?
Tell me, with so many famous ministers, why couldn't they make the Song Dynasty rise again?

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was unfriendly, filled with undisguised contempt and sarcasm.

"Your Majesty, this matter needs to be viewed from multiple perspectives."

For example, the prosperity of the Song Dynasty remains unmatched to this day.

Then someone else came forward and said that the Song Dynasty should be vindicated.

Of course, while it is said to be to rectify the name of the Song Dynasty, to be precise, it is to rectify the name of the emperor and his officials sharing the world.

Tell Zhu Yuanzhang how wonderful it would be if the emperor and the scholar-officials shared the empire.

“Prosperous? The Song Dynasty was prosperous, but where did the prosperity of the Song Dynasty come from?”

The prosperity of the Song Dynasty was created by a strong central government and weak local governments!

With the wealth of the world gathered in Bianliang, how could Bianliang not be prosperous?
Bianliang was prosperous, but what about the rest of the city?
What's the use of Bianliang's prosperity?

Can prosperity feed us, or can it withstand the Jurchen invasion from the south?
The Jurchen army, with its powerful central government and weak local forces, swept south, conquering Bianliang and utterly destroying its prosperity.

They looted all the gold, silver and other valuables, as well as a great deal of food and supplies!
The Song Dynasty was severely weakened, and local areas that wanted to raise troops found it difficult to obtain food and supplies.

They all enriched the Golden Man!

Furthermore, after other dynasties were established, they would reduce taxes and allow the people to rest and recuperate, and implement various tax reductions.

The same thing happened after our Great Ming Dynasty was established.

But what about the incompetent Song Dynasty?
These are things I've never done before!
They have always collected high taxes to support the emperor and the scholar-officials!
This is its prosperity!
What use is such prosperity?
We are deeply ashamed!

Zhu Yuanzhang's momentum grew stronger, and he sat on the dragon throne and directly confronted Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the past, if these people had said these things to him, he really wouldn't have dared to argue with them.

They would believe that what they said was true.

That makes a lot of sense; the Song Dynasty was indeed very prosperous.

When the emperor shared power with the scholar-officials, many famous ministers indeed emerged.

However, after returning from studying abroad in modern times, he felt utterly disdainful of these people's remarks.

These people can no longer fool him with these words!

The person who tried to speak was once again rendered speechless by Zhu Yuanzhang's rebuttal.

Even those who originally wanted to speak out in support, to praise the Song Dynasty from this perspective, and to praise the benefits of the emperor and the scholar-officials sharing the world, had many doubts in their hearts.

Why is this emperor becoming more and more difficult to deal with?

How come you know so much more?
Despite all these twists and turns, he understood them all perfectly.

This is nothing like the level of Zhu Yuanzhang should have!

With this in mind, most people quickly came to a conclusion.

Many people turned their attention to Liu Bowen, who remained silent throughout.

It must have been done by Liu Bowen, that traitor and disgrace to the literati!

They told the emperor all of this!
He taught the emperor many of these things!

Despicable, absolutely despicable!
You said there was a perfectly good scholar, how did he end up becoming the emperor's lackey?

As Liu Bowen stood there, he suddenly felt a chill on his back.

He didn't even need to look; he already knew what the situation was.

For a moment, I felt a deep sense of bitterness and unease.

These people have truly wronged me; these are absolutely not things I said to those in power.

How can you wrong someone like that?
I've been so wronged!
However, he dared not say much about this matter.

All we can do is remain silent and accept it all, letting them think whatever they want.

Anyway, they're just some insects.

Only such a worthless and ignorant person would still think that His Majesty is not up to par.

There are so many things I don't understand.

They still treated His Majesty like a beggar or a cowherd.

They think His Majesty is crude and uncultured.

Anyone who thinks like that is incredibly stupid!
So stupid it's beyond redemption.

These people are filled with arrogance and prejudice, and they are unwilling to even look at those in positions of power.

Let them hate such insects; they'll never amount to anything!

Anyway, I've already taken the blame for His Majesty enough times over the years without leaving a trace, so one more won't make a difference.

Liu Bowen now seems to be adopting a "the more lice you have, the less they bite; the more debts you have, the less you worry" attitude.

The upright and unyielding Li Shanchang originally wanted to step forward and continue to denounce these wicked villains and expose their ugly faces after hearing them speak.

To advocate for His Majesty.

But upon hearing what the emperor said, he silently swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

He secretly thought, "Wonderful!"

The person in power is becoming increasingly unfathomable!
These are the kinds of things that directly confront these people's true feelings; I could never say them myself.

What his superiors said was even more brilliant than he had imagined, and it made those people feel even more uncomfortable.

After being repeatedly rebuked by Zhu Yuanzhang, no one dared to complain about the matter anymore.

Of course, this doesn't mean they ran out of words or had nothing to say to the emperor.

These people are best at verbal battles.

If they can turn black into white, how could there be no way to argue against it?
The main reason is that the occasion is not right.

Moreover, the people arguing with them were also wrong.

Today's emperors are not only more knowledgeable, but also increasingly difficult to fool.

More importantly, this guy is truly capable of turning his back on someone without hesitation.

The emperor has already made his point so clearly. If we continue to argue, and anger the emperor to the point that he can't win the debate, he might just kill us. That would be disastrous for him.

This is something only a dog emperor would do.

Therefore, you can't be too reasonable with these kinds of people in many situations.

Being too reasonable is actually bad; it makes them more likely to take advantage of you.

"The Crown Prince is not young anymore. From now on, all officials of the Secretariat and the Six Ministries should first go to the Wenhua Hall to report their government affairs to the Crown Prince so that he can handle them."

We'll fill in the gaps and make improvements here.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at these people and announced a new decision.

He originally planned to wait a while before making this decision and then begin implementing it.

But who told these people to be so reckless and defiant?
Has Prime Minister Hu Weiyong misbehaved once again?

Since that's the case, then I won't stand on ceremony with them.

Give him a big gift and surprise him!
As Zhu Yuanzhang had predicted, most of the people present were taken aback when he uttered those words.

Subsequently, many of them showed significant changes in their expressions.

Among them, the one who reacted the most and whose expression changed the fastest was Hu Weiyong.

Hu Weiyong was indeed skilled; just by hearing what I said, he immediately understood what my words meant.

This matter seems to simply involve letting his son, Biao'er, start handling government affairs directly.

But in fact it is not the case.

For Hu Weiyong, this meant that he had taken away a large portion of the power of the Central Secretariat from him.

This further diminished his power as prime minister.

Originally, these six ministries, along with numerous officials, would gather their reports at the Central Secretariat before bringing them to me. Now, however, I'm having them report to Biao'er first, and then I'll handle the rest myself.

It's like they've been given another boss.

Moreover, he was a superior who was above the prime minister.

Moreover, some of their powers were effectively stripped away from the prime minister.

Based on Hu Weiyong's emphasis on and desire for power.

It would be strange if Hu Weiyong could feel good about it.

But who can blame them for being so ungrateful as Hu Weiyong? That scoundrel always starts to act arrogantly every now and then.

I'll punch him right now, teach him a lesson, and make him feel really bad.

It's likely that Hu Weiyong felt even more frustrated after making this move.

In the future, I will be even more unable to resist the urge to rebel against myself and to put it into action.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang made this decision at this time not just to rebuke Hu Weiyong and make him behave.

A large part of the reason is that my son is indeed not young anymore.

And they had already been observing politics alongside him for some time.

Their skill level has also improved considerably.

We can now let Biao'er handle government affairs on his own.

Cultivating successors cannot be merely a matter of observation; it requires concrete action.

Otherwise, the improvement in skill level will ultimately be limited.

Many things can only be truly understood by doing them yourself.

Otherwise, it will ultimately be like scratching an itch through a boot.

Since Biao'er is the heir he has chosen, he will naturally be nurtured properly.

We absolutely cannot produce another scoundrel like Zhu Yunwen.

Of course, while letting Biao'er begin handling government affairs, Zhu Yuanzhang would also pay attention to some influences and limits.

I will not let my son work so hard again.

The key is to strike a balance here, aiming to train the child while preventing a recurrence of the events of the previous life.

Make your son too tired.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao, standing in front, looked somewhat strange and anxious after hearing his father's words.

Actually, my father had discussed this matter with me a few days ago.

She said she was still young and worried that she wasn't capable enough, so she wanted to wait a while longer.

After his father encouraged him, he agreed with his opinion.

Why are you suddenly bringing this up now?

After a slight surprise, she understood her father's thoughts.

This was intended to annoy Hu Weiyong.

Hu Weiyong's actions just now should be punished.

It was somewhat both funny and sad.

My father, the emperor, truly lives up to his name; he refuses to suffer any loss.

The question is... am I really capable of handling this role?
He was somewhat nervous.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt Zhu Biao's gaze and gave his son, Biao, an encouraging and affirming look.

Biao'er's abilities are quite good.

In my past life, I did an excellent job after taking over the business.

My life will definitely not be too bad.

Moreover, through this incident at the Imperial Academy, it can be seen that Jia Biao'er has made great progress in his character.

Under such circumstances, it would be even more reassuring to let Biao'er govern the country.

"No one is wiser than the one in power! It is indeed time for His Highness the Crown Prince to govern the country."

"We will certainly report on state affairs to Your Highness and cooperate with you in your work."

Hu Weiyong was quite shrewd.

Even though he was so angry that he wanted to grind his teeth to dust, he cursed Zhu Yuanzhang in his heart and hated him to death.

And how unwilling they are to do this, and how much they want to refute it.

However, these were just thoughts in my mind; I didn't dare to actually put them into action.

They didn't even make the slightest move to resist.

They directly proclaimed that the emperor was wise and benevolent.

The reason he did this was because he knew that what Zhu Yuanzhang was doing was very legitimate.

As the heir apparent, the crown prince certainly needs to be properly nurtured.

The practice of having the crown prince observe politics, and even handle government affairs, has existed for a long time.

For example, the Western Han Dynasty was truly exceptional in its training of the crown prince.

Moreover, he also knew that given Zhu Yuanzhang's fondness for the current crown prince, it was understandable that Zhu Yuanzhang had brought this up at this time.

Then it's beyond his ability to stop it.

If we were to do that, it would displease the emperor.

If things go wrong, they could be labeled as traitors and rebels.

What he had just done had already displeased the dog emperor.

He is now suppressing himself.

If we continue to oppose the emperor on this matter, I'm afraid we won't have a good ending.

Didn't you see that bastard Li Shanchang? He's old and still not dead, and he's getting more and more of a sycophant?

He was determined to get into the Secretariat.

If the emperor were to truly dismiss himself as prime minister and then appoint Li Shanchang to the Secretariat, it wouldn't be impossible.

Therefore, he could only swallow his pride and suffer the loss.

After Hu Weiyong spoke, Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, Li Wenzhong, and the other court officials also spoke up to express their admiration for His Majesty's wisdom.

No one objected to this, and it was approved immediately.

However, everyone's feelings are different.

For example, Li Shanchang laughed so hard his teeth almost fell out.

Hu Weiyong, that bastard, was arrogant and domineering before, but now he's suffered the consequences, hasn't he?

Do you really think the emperor is someone to be trifled with?
In the past, for many scholars, letting the crown prince govern the country would have been an ideal solution.
The crown prince is on their side.

For them, the Crown Prince ruling the country was a tremendous good thing.

However, considering the attitude His Highness the Crown Prince has shown regarding the Imperial Academy, many scholars are not happy about it.

"Since no one has any objections, let's settle this matter here."

After waiting a moment, Zhu Yuanzhang made the final decision.

And I felt it was somewhat of a pity.

He was waiting for some people to strongly oppose this matter.

In this way, he can legitimately deal with a group of people.

……

"Prime Minister, this emperor is utterly despicable!"

After returning to the Secretariat, two people gathered around Hu Weiyong.

His face showed indignation, and he was standing up for Hu Weiyong.

These two men are the Left and Right Assistant Secretaries of the Secretariat.

The Left Chancellor has now been replaced.

Both of them can be considered Hu Weiyong's lackeys.

This was also a special arrangement made by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Only in this way could Hu Weiyong be made bolder in certain matters and be able to do the earth-shattering rebellion.

This will make it easier for him to remove it in the future.

"Prime Minister, could it be... that we will really have to report state affairs to a mere greenhorn like the Crown Prince from now on?"

The Right Chancellor spoke up unwillingly.

Hu Weiyong nodded: "What else can we do if we don't report to him?"

"But, Prime Minister, the Emperor is clearly targeting you."

The abolition of the provincial secretariat and the removal of the chancellor were already a series of measures that cut off the power of the central secretariat.

Now they've pulled this stunt again. How much of the Prime Minister's power has been eroded?
This cannot be tolerated!

Upon hearing this, Hu Weiyong's expression quickly turned sinister.

"It's not that easy for him, Zhu Laoda, to govern the country peacefully and without any problems!"

"I have my own ways of dealing with him!"

His voice was very low, but his resentment was no less intense.

Upon hearing Hu Weiyong's words, the Left and Right Vice Ministers of the Secretariat were relieved.

Looking forward to Hu Weiyong's next performance...

……

"Good! Zhu Chongba's Maritime Trade Office is finally completed!"
We've finally started trading overseas!
Haha, now it's time to let Zhu Chongba have his way and see who really calls the shots at sea!

On an island, a large number of pirates gathered, and a bald man grinned maliciously...

(End of this chapter)