Old Zhu took Zhu Wenyao back to his hometown, and Zhu Yunhuan felt a little uncomfortable for a while.
In fact, it was not only Zhu Yunxun who was a little uncomfortable, Xu Miaojin was also a little uncomfortable. After all, during this period of time, she basically followed Zhu Yunxun to eat in the West Palace.
But now it's different. If Zhu Yunhuan is sure that he will not rest in the Qianqing Palace, Xu Miaojin will go back to Kunning Palace directly. This seems to have become the way the emperor and empress should be, instead of being seen every day.
These are changes. With Old Zhu and Zhu Wenyao in the palace, four generations of the family are together. Although Zhu Biao and Chang are missing, it still has the taste of home.
After the court session, Zhu Yunhuan returned to Wuying Palace to handle government affairs, and also rarely summoned the six ministers.
"I have been thinking before that the emperor has always been tough in his administration." Zhu Yunhuan expressed some of his thoughts, "But I also think that virtue and good governance are the key to nourishing the people."
For a moment, there was complete silence in the Wuying Hall. The six ministers looked at each other, some even feeling a little uneasy. They didn't understand what the current emperor meant.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, he always had strict laws and harsh punishments, which everyone knew. Many people were trembling with fear, but they also understood that sometimes it was necessary to use severe punishments in times of chaos, so as to correct some customs.
Judging from past performance alone, the current emperor is indeed more lenient than the Hongwu Emperor, but such leniency is also very limited, and the Ming Dynasty is still adopting harsh laws and severe punishments.
The most important thing is that the retired emperor has just returned to Fengyang. Is it too early for the current emperor to change some of his policies?
Although Zhu Yunhuan had slightly changed Zhu's policies, he was basically skirting the rules and did not adjust some fundamental policies.
And now directly changing some of the governance concepts is so huge that even the six ministers dare not speak easily.
Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help laughing, "Why, do you think I'm planning to make some small moves while the emperor is away from the capital?"
The six ministers knelt down at the same time and said quickly, "We dare not."
This was just a cliché. In fact, the six ministers really didn't dare to speak. This matter was so big that even though they seemed to be at the top of the civil service, they didn't dare to offer suggestions on such a matter.
In fact, they were somewhat suspicious in their hearts. It might be that the current emperor really wanted to do something while the retired emperor was away from the capital. After all, it seemed that no one could control the current emperor now.
Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help laughing, but he could fully understand the concerns of the six ministers.
In the final analysis, it was because Zhu's prestige was too high. Even though Zhu Yunhuan was now sitting on the dragon throne and even though he seemed to be in power, everyone knew who had the final say in the Ming Dynasty.
Perhaps one day Zhu Yunhuan could make a decision on his own and truly carry out the law of heaven. But at this stage, Emperor Chengkang could only make decisions if the retired emperor did not object.
This was the truth, and Zhu Yunhuan knew it. All the officials knew it too, but they simply didn't dare to show it.
Seeing that these important officials dared not say anything more, Zhu Yunhuan did not force them. "You go back and think about it carefully. I think it is not good to always use harsh punishments, but it is not good to be too lenient either. You should weigh the degree here first."
The six ministers all breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the emperor did not ask them to express their opinions immediately, they could go back and think about it slowly, and perhaps they could come up with a better response plan.
What the six ministers are most worried about now is not anything else but that the current emperor is forcing them to express their stance and to take sides.
If they think carefully about what has happened recently, they may even suspect that there is a huge conflict between the current emperor and the emperor emeritus, and all of this has actually been reflected.
For example, if the retired emperor insisted on returning to his hometown and the current emperor did not stop him at all, this might indicate a huge conflict, but people outside the palace could not know what happened inside.
Emperor Hongwu advocated severe laws and severe punishments. He always insisted on using severe punishments in times of chaos, so after the chaos ended, social order stabilized at a relatively fast pace.
The harshness of Emperor Hongwu also worked, although there were still some corrupt officials occasionally. But to be realistic, the current administration is relatively clean, mainly because many corrupt officials were frightened.
The effects of these have been seen, and it seems that there will be no harm in continuing to persist, and perhaps it can help to keep the administration clean and honest.
But now the emperor thinks that the policy needs to be relaxed a little bit, after all, it is too high pressure now. It is obviously not a good thing to be in the most tense state all the time, and it may break at any time.
These are all possible things that may happen, and these are indeed what Zhu Yunhuan is worried about.
It is obviously inappropriate to always adopt a high-pressure policy, but he will certainly not relax it all of a sudden, otherwise some people will surely become fearless and that would be counterproductive.
It is very important to find a balance. After all, Zhu has laid a solid foundation. Making some changes on such a relatively solid foundation is also what Zhu Yunhuan should do.
After the six ministers left, Zhu Yunhuan asked with a smile, "Were they frightened?"
Daoyan told the truth, "Your Majesty, I think the ministers are indeed a little frightened."
Xia Yuanji did not hide his opinion, "Your Majesty mentioned such a big thing, not to mention the ministers, even I am surprised and can't help but think too much."
After hearing what the two "secretaries" said, Zhu Yunhuan really couldn't help laughing, as if it was really the case.
Daoyan continued, "There are already many people speculating about His Majesty the Retired Emperor's return to the Imperial City. Now that His Majesty has mentioned changing the ruling policy that His Majesty the Retired Emperor has decided on, they must be thinking even more."
Zhu Yunhuan naturally understood this truth, but he was too lazy to say anything more. It was mainly because some people just liked to speculate about things, and some excessive interpretations would lead to mistakes.
In Zhu Yunhuan's view, as long as it is not too outrageous, there is nothing to say. Sometimes thinking more is not necessarily a bad thing.
Zhu Yunhuan looked at Daoyan and asked seriously, "If I change it, what do you think of this matter?"
Daoyan thought about it carefully and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor governs the country with strictness and severity, controls his subjects with severe laws, and severely punishes corrupt officials and illegal nobles. I think this is naturally a good thing, and I know a lot of things in my heart."
In Zhu's view, the late Yuan Dynasty was caused by the weakness of the imperial court and the transfer of power to lower levels. The specific manifestations were the corruption of discipline and the arrogance of officials, which led to the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, when implementing some policies, drastic measures are indeed needed, otherwise there is really no way to change the deep-rooted corruption of officials since the Yuan Dynasty. The series of thinking inertia here is not so easy to change.
Zhu Yunhuan then smiled and said, "Do you also think that I want to govern the world with a relaxed policy?"
Daoyan immediately replied, "Your Majesty, I do not think so."
Xia Yuanji also replied without thinking, "Your Majesty, I think your Majesty's policy is lenient and only slightly more lenient than in previous years."
This was not Daoyan and Xia Yuanji flattering. They never thought that Zhu Yunhuan was a benevolent emperor. Some of the current emperor's practices were almost a continuation of the Hongwu Emperor.
It is because the Hongwu Emperor was so strict that the current emperor seems to be a more lenient person.
Hearing his two secretaries say this, Zhu Yunhuan also laughed. The people around him knew him better, so what they said was naturally the truth.
In fact, many things are obvious to all. Zhu Yunhuan has no intention of easing up at all. Before this, whether it was the Hongcang case or the Taicang case, they were all aimed at rectifying the administration of officials, which was also the policy that the new emperor focused on upon his accession to the throne.
Perhaps it can also be said that it was because of these two major cases that the current emperor cleaned up the administration of officials. This seems to be a passive choice.
After the current emperor came to power, he has been pushing for grassroots officials who were taken over from the Yuan Dynasty or other forces to leave the officialdom. This is almost like killing everyone with one blow.
This is not simply a matter of officials trained by the Ming Dynasty itself to govern the local areas, but also a continuous rectification of the administration of officials. All of this seems to be something that Emperor Chengkang needs to continue to do during his tenure.
Zhu Yunxun then asked with a smile, "Then what do you think the officials will do if I am more lenient?"
Xia Yuanji flattered the emperor and said, "Your Majesty has always been lenient to the officials, so the officials are naturally grateful."
There seems to be nothing wrong with this statement. Compared with the old Zhu, Zhu Yunhuan is indeed more gentle to the officials. And isn't this going to increase the salaries of middle and low-level officials? This is what makes many officials excited.
If it were the Hongwu Emperor, he would definitely not think of raising the salaries of officials. Even if there was an increase once before, it was only a limited increase for senior officials, and the life of middle and low-level officials was still not easy.
Daoyan also said, "Your Majesty, I think you can be a little more relaxed. But if you are too relaxed, I am afraid that the trend of corruption will be difficult to curb."
"These are what I am most worried about now. It is difficult to eradicate corruption even with such harsh laws and punishments, and it will certainly be even more difficult after the relaxation of the laws." Zhu Yunhuan was also somewhat helpless. "Some people say that we should follow the example of the Song Dynasty and pay high salaries to maintain integrity. I don't think they have good intentions."
Daoyan and Xia Yuanji didn't know what to say for a moment. They were also officials, so naturally they hoped that the officials' salaries could be a little higher, which would be in their interest.
But they all understood that what Zhu Yunhuan said made sense, and the treatment of officials in the Northern Song Dynasty was indeed very good. Not only in terms of political status, but also in terms of economic benefits, the salaries of officials in the Northern Song Dynasty were astonishingly high.
But even so, it is difficult to say that corruption has been truly curbed. Some officials receive high salaries, but they still engage in corruption and want to get more.
The bottom line is that human desires are endless. Some people want more after getting a lot.
Daoyan then said, "Your Majesty, I think the rectification of officialdom should not be a temporary thing."
Zhu Yunhuan nodded in agreement. He understood this truth. "What the monk said makes sense. We must always keep an eye on the administration of officials. This can only be considered according to the time and place. It is difficult to solve the problem once and for all."
Daoyan and Xia Yuanji also held the same view. The harsh laws and punishments during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign did temporarily curb the trend of corruption, making the Ming Dynasty's administration relatively clean overall.
But if it fell into Zhu Yunhuan's hands, if he relaxed or was not careful, the previous corrupt atmosphere might resurface.
These are things that are very likely to happen, and no one can guarantee them. We can only hope that successive rulers will pay attention to this aspect and make some adjustments and changes based on the current situation.
"Since I have said it today, we should find a way to change some things." Zhu Yunhuan said, "Let's not talk about the administration of officials for now. Some criminal laws should be abolished if they are necessary."
Daoyan and Xia Yuanji were stunned for a moment. They really didn't expect Zhu Yunhuan to make such a big turn, but everything seemed to be so smooth.
Everyone subconsciously thought that the current emperor wanted to change the harsh laws and punishments, and was targeting some issues such as the administration of officials.
But looking back now, everyone has only guessed half of it. Because what the emperor really wants to change may be some harsher punishments.
Zhu Yuanzhang showed no mercy when dealing with corrupt officials. In addition to skinning and stuffing straw on them, he also used tortures such as pulling out tendons, cutting off fingers, cutting off hands, and cutting off knees. This did indeed intimidate a number of officials and made them behave much more restrained.
However, such severe punishments were sometimes used on ordinary people. It was normal to increase the severity of serious crimes and use extrajudicial punishments during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang. Cutting off hands, feet, and castrating people into slavery were not particularly unusual.
So looking at it now, the real intention of the current emperor may be to reduce sentences and prison sentences, which seems more like avoiding a series of large-scale implicates during Zhu Yuanzhang's time.
If this is true, it would definitely be a good thing for some people. For some ordinary people, it might also be a good thing. After all, no one knows whether they will be implicated in a major case.
Those who deserve punishment must be severely punished, but how to punish them and how to maintain the laws and order of the court requires Zhu Yunhuan to think more about this.
After all, some of the harsh laws and punishments in the early days were too harsh, so some changes seemed to be inevitable.
Daoyan and Xia Yuanji couldn't help but think too much at this time. They believed that after the news spread, all officials would start to discuss this matter intensely.
If you think about it carefully, this is also a good thing. Harsh laws and severe punishments cannot be used all the time, and it is not appropriate to set up large prisons all the time.
Reducing the number of sentences and reducing the number of prison sentences is also for the sake of peace and order in the world! (End of this chapter)
In fact, it was not only Zhu Yunxun who was a little uncomfortable, Xu Miaojin was also a little uncomfortable. After all, during this period of time, she basically followed Zhu Yunxun to eat in the West Palace.
But now it's different. If Zhu Yunhuan is sure that he will not rest in the Qianqing Palace, Xu Miaojin will go back to Kunning Palace directly. This seems to have become the way the emperor and empress should be, instead of being seen every day.
These are changes. With Old Zhu and Zhu Wenyao in the palace, four generations of the family are together. Although Zhu Biao and Chang are missing, it still has the taste of home.
After the court session, Zhu Yunhuan returned to Wuying Palace to handle government affairs, and also rarely summoned the six ministers.
"I have been thinking before that the emperor has always been tough in his administration." Zhu Yunhuan expressed some of his thoughts, "But I also think that virtue and good governance are the key to nourishing the people."
For a moment, there was complete silence in the Wuying Hall. The six ministers looked at each other, some even feeling a little uneasy. They didn't understand what the current emperor meant.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, he always had strict laws and harsh punishments, which everyone knew. Many people were trembling with fear, but they also understood that sometimes it was necessary to use severe punishments in times of chaos, so as to correct some customs.
Judging from past performance alone, the current emperor is indeed more lenient than the Hongwu Emperor, but such leniency is also very limited, and the Ming Dynasty is still adopting harsh laws and severe punishments.
The most important thing is that the retired emperor has just returned to Fengyang. Is it too early for the current emperor to change some of his policies?
Although Zhu Yunhuan had slightly changed Zhu's policies, he was basically skirting the rules and did not adjust some fundamental policies.
And now directly changing some of the governance concepts is so huge that even the six ministers dare not speak easily.
Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help laughing, "Why, do you think I'm planning to make some small moves while the emperor is away from the capital?"
The six ministers knelt down at the same time and said quickly, "We dare not."
This was just a cliché. In fact, the six ministers really didn't dare to speak. This matter was so big that even though they seemed to be at the top of the civil service, they didn't dare to offer suggestions on such a matter.
In fact, they were somewhat suspicious in their hearts. It might be that the current emperor really wanted to do something while the retired emperor was away from the capital. After all, it seemed that no one could control the current emperor now.
Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help laughing, but he could fully understand the concerns of the six ministers.
In the final analysis, it was because Zhu's prestige was too high. Even though Zhu Yunhuan was now sitting on the dragon throne and even though he seemed to be in power, everyone knew who had the final say in the Ming Dynasty.
Perhaps one day Zhu Yunhuan could make a decision on his own and truly carry out the law of heaven. But at this stage, Emperor Chengkang could only make decisions if the retired emperor did not object.
This was the truth, and Zhu Yunhuan knew it. All the officials knew it too, but they simply didn't dare to show it.
Seeing that these important officials dared not say anything more, Zhu Yunhuan did not force them. "You go back and think about it carefully. I think it is not good to always use harsh punishments, but it is not good to be too lenient either. You should weigh the degree here first."
The six ministers all breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the emperor did not ask them to express their opinions immediately, they could go back and think about it slowly, and perhaps they could come up with a better response plan.
What the six ministers are most worried about now is not anything else but that the current emperor is forcing them to express their stance and to take sides.
If they think carefully about what has happened recently, they may even suspect that there is a huge conflict between the current emperor and the emperor emeritus, and all of this has actually been reflected.
For example, if the retired emperor insisted on returning to his hometown and the current emperor did not stop him at all, this might indicate a huge conflict, but people outside the palace could not know what happened inside.
Emperor Hongwu advocated severe laws and severe punishments. He always insisted on using severe punishments in times of chaos, so after the chaos ended, social order stabilized at a relatively fast pace.
The harshness of Emperor Hongwu also worked, although there were still some corrupt officials occasionally. But to be realistic, the current administration is relatively clean, mainly because many corrupt officials were frightened.
The effects of these have been seen, and it seems that there will be no harm in continuing to persist, and perhaps it can help to keep the administration clean and honest.
But now the emperor thinks that the policy needs to be relaxed a little bit, after all, it is too high pressure now. It is obviously not a good thing to be in the most tense state all the time, and it may break at any time.
These are all possible things that may happen, and these are indeed what Zhu Yunhuan is worried about.
It is obviously inappropriate to always adopt a high-pressure policy, but he will certainly not relax it all of a sudden, otherwise some people will surely become fearless and that would be counterproductive.
It is very important to find a balance. After all, Zhu has laid a solid foundation. Making some changes on such a relatively solid foundation is also what Zhu Yunhuan should do.
After the six ministers left, Zhu Yunhuan asked with a smile, "Were they frightened?"
Daoyan told the truth, "Your Majesty, I think the ministers are indeed a little frightened."
Xia Yuanji did not hide his opinion, "Your Majesty mentioned such a big thing, not to mention the ministers, even I am surprised and can't help but think too much."
After hearing what the two "secretaries" said, Zhu Yunhuan really couldn't help laughing, as if it was really the case.
Daoyan continued, "There are already many people speculating about His Majesty the Retired Emperor's return to the Imperial City. Now that His Majesty has mentioned changing the ruling policy that His Majesty the Retired Emperor has decided on, they must be thinking even more."
Zhu Yunhuan naturally understood this truth, but he was too lazy to say anything more. It was mainly because some people just liked to speculate about things, and some excessive interpretations would lead to mistakes.
In Zhu Yunhuan's view, as long as it is not too outrageous, there is nothing to say. Sometimes thinking more is not necessarily a bad thing.
Zhu Yunhuan looked at Daoyan and asked seriously, "If I change it, what do you think of this matter?"
Daoyan thought about it carefully and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor governs the country with strictness and severity, controls his subjects with severe laws, and severely punishes corrupt officials and illegal nobles. I think this is naturally a good thing, and I know a lot of things in my heart."
In Zhu's view, the late Yuan Dynasty was caused by the weakness of the imperial court and the transfer of power to lower levels. The specific manifestations were the corruption of discipline and the arrogance of officials, which led to the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, when implementing some policies, drastic measures are indeed needed, otherwise there is really no way to change the deep-rooted corruption of officials since the Yuan Dynasty. The series of thinking inertia here is not so easy to change.
Zhu Yunhuan then smiled and said, "Do you also think that I want to govern the world with a relaxed policy?"
Daoyan immediately replied, "Your Majesty, I do not think so."
Xia Yuanji also replied without thinking, "Your Majesty, I think your Majesty's policy is lenient and only slightly more lenient than in previous years."
This was not Daoyan and Xia Yuanji flattering. They never thought that Zhu Yunhuan was a benevolent emperor. Some of the current emperor's practices were almost a continuation of the Hongwu Emperor.
It is because the Hongwu Emperor was so strict that the current emperor seems to be a more lenient person.
Hearing his two secretaries say this, Zhu Yunhuan also laughed. The people around him knew him better, so what they said was naturally the truth.
In fact, many things are obvious to all. Zhu Yunhuan has no intention of easing up at all. Before this, whether it was the Hongcang case or the Taicang case, they were all aimed at rectifying the administration of officials, which was also the policy that the new emperor focused on upon his accession to the throne.
Perhaps it can also be said that it was because of these two major cases that the current emperor cleaned up the administration of officials. This seems to be a passive choice.
After the current emperor came to power, he has been pushing for grassroots officials who were taken over from the Yuan Dynasty or other forces to leave the officialdom. This is almost like killing everyone with one blow.
This is not simply a matter of officials trained by the Ming Dynasty itself to govern the local areas, but also a continuous rectification of the administration of officials. All of this seems to be something that Emperor Chengkang needs to continue to do during his tenure.
Zhu Yunxun then asked with a smile, "Then what do you think the officials will do if I am more lenient?"
Xia Yuanji flattered the emperor and said, "Your Majesty has always been lenient to the officials, so the officials are naturally grateful."
There seems to be nothing wrong with this statement. Compared with the old Zhu, Zhu Yunhuan is indeed more gentle to the officials. And isn't this going to increase the salaries of middle and low-level officials? This is what makes many officials excited.
If it were the Hongwu Emperor, he would definitely not think of raising the salaries of officials. Even if there was an increase once before, it was only a limited increase for senior officials, and the life of middle and low-level officials was still not easy.
Daoyan also said, "Your Majesty, I think you can be a little more relaxed. But if you are too relaxed, I am afraid that the trend of corruption will be difficult to curb."
"These are what I am most worried about now. It is difficult to eradicate corruption even with such harsh laws and punishments, and it will certainly be even more difficult after the relaxation of the laws." Zhu Yunhuan was also somewhat helpless. "Some people say that we should follow the example of the Song Dynasty and pay high salaries to maintain integrity. I don't think they have good intentions."
Daoyan and Xia Yuanji didn't know what to say for a moment. They were also officials, so naturally they hoped that the officials' salaries could be a little higher, which would be in their interest.
But they all understood that what Zhu Yunhuan said made sense, and the treatment of officials in the Northern Song Dynasty was indeed very good. Not only in terms of political status, but also in terms of economic benefits, the salaries of officials in the Northern Song Dynasty were astonishingly high.
But even so, it is difficult to say that corruption has been truly curbed. Some officials receive high salaries, but they still engage in corruption and want to get more.
The bottom line is that human desires are endless. Some people want more after getting a lot.
Daoyan then said, "Your Majesty, I think the rectification of officialdom should not be a temporary thing."
Zhu Yunhuan nodded in agreement. He understood this truth. "What the monk said makes sense. We must always keep an eye on the administration of officials. This can only be considered according to the time and place. It is difficult to solve the problem once and for all."
Daoyan and Xia Yuanji also held the same view. The harsh laws and punishments during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign did temporarily curb the trend of corruption, making the Ming Dynasty's administration relatively clean overall.
But if it fell into Zhu Yunhuan's hands, if he relaxed or was not careful, the previous corrupt atmosphere might resurface.
These are things that are very likely to happen, and no one can guarantee them. We can only hope that successive rulers will pay attention to this aspect and make some adjustments and changes based on the current situation.
"Since I have said it today, we should find a way to change some things." Zhu Yunhuan said, "Let's not talk about the administration of officials for now. Some criminal laws should be abolished if they are necessary."
Daoyan and Xia Yuanji were stunned for a moment. They really didn't expect Zhu Yunhuan to make such a big turn, but everything seemed to be so smooth.
Everyone subconsciously thought that the current emperor wanted to change the harsh laws and punishments, and was targeting some issues such as the administration of officials.
But looking back now, everyone has only guessed half of it. Because what the emperor really wants to change may be some harsher punishments.
Zhu Yuanzhang showed no mercy when dealing with corrupt officials. In addition to skinning and stuffing straw on them, he also used tortures such as pulling out tendons, cutting off fingers, cutting off hands, and cutting off knees. This did indeed intimidate a number of officials and made them behave much more restrained.
However, such severe punishments were sometimes used on ordinary people. It was normal to increase the severity of serious crimes and use extrajudicial punishments during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang. Cutting off hands, feet, and castrating people into slavery were not particularly unusual.
So looking at it now, the real intention of the current emperor may be to reduce sentences and prison sentences, which seems more like avoiding a series of large-scale implicates during Zhu Yuanzhang's time.
If this is true, it would definitely be a good thing for some people. For some ordinary people, it might also be a good thing. After all, no one knows whether they will be implicated in a major case.
Those who deserve punishment must be severely punished, but how to punish them and how to maintain the laws and order of the court requires Zhu Yunhuan to think more about this.
After all, some of the harsh laws and punishments in the early days were too harsh, so some changes seemed to be inevitable.
Daoyan and Xia Yuanji couldn't help but think too much at this time. They believed that after the news spread, all officials would start to discuss this matter intensely.
If you think about it carefully, this is also a good thing. Harsh laws and severe punishments cannot be used all the time, and it is not appropriate to set up large prisons all the time.
Reducing the number of sentences and reducing the number of prison sentences is also for the sake of peace and order in the world! (End of this chapter)
