"It's probably a matter of settling scores after the fact. With the court putting so much pressure on them, nothing will happen. Some of the ringleaders have been dealt with, so the others can't cause any more trouble." Zhu Xiong Ying said with a smile, quite confident. "The Kong family hasn't shown their true colors, but some others have been making quite a few small moves these past few days."

Hearing Zhu Xiong Ying say this, Old Zhu also laughed, "These days, those scholars, civil officials, and even some nobles and members of the imperial family are still making connections, all thinking that we are too old to kill people!"

Zhu Xiong Ying took full responsibility, saying, "Grandfather, anyone with eyes can see that I'm handling these matters. Although I am the foundation of the nation and have some authority, none of those people are convinced of my authority and want to challenge me."

Zhu Xiong Ying's entrapment operation was not particularly successful, but it was not a complete failure either, and it was acceptable to some extent.

The family most eager to be lured out was naturally the Kong family, but the line of the Duke Yansheng was quite clever. Even though there were some complaints from the literati, not a word came from the Kong family. They all seemed to be planning to hide like cowards, absolutely unwilling to appear in the limelight, and had no intention of raising their arms to lead the literati.

There was some disappointment, but Zhu Xiong Ying did gain something, even if it was just some small gains. It's better than nothing.

Speaking of which, Zhu Xiong Ying was quite easily satisfied. He said with no small amount of pride, "Grandfather, there were factional struggles during the Song Dynasty. There were the New Party, the Old Party, or regional factions. Those scholars didn't care about governing the country; they were only interested in forming cliques, attacking dissidents, and fighting for power. We have to teach them a lesson."

This definitely hit the nail on the head for Zhu De, who has never liked or trusted scholars. The need to strictly guard against factional strife is something Zhu De finds very reasonable, and it's something that must be done.

Ultimately, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that as long as it was good for the Ming Dynasty, he should do it. As for the feelings of scholars, Zhu Yuanzhang never really cared about them; all he cared about was the empire he had conquered.

The grandfather and grandson started discussing again. They were probably the nightmare of scholars in the Ming Dynasty. What they liked to do most was to continuously attack scholars.

They did need scholars to govern the country, but when they saw that some scholars in the Ming Dynasty were beginning to gain power, and when they saw that the civil service group had never given up its challenge to the imperial power, then naturally they would not be lenient.

This is not the first time they have cheated scholars, nor is it the first time they have attacked them. There will be many more things to do in the future.

For example, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot continuously exposed the secrets of scholars at this time, or the old Zhu and the young Zhu deliberately made things difficult for some officials, or perhaps some officials who were in cahoots, making it extremely difficult for them to meet again.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was simply not as active as before, but the Eastern Depot was no pushover either; these secret service organizations never relaxed their surveillance of civil and military officials.

"Grandfather, if we're talking about now, we should first deal with these scholars." Zhu Xiong Ying said calmly, with some lingering interest. "I plan to leave some civil and military officials in Yingtian Prefecture, and there will also be some ministers and such here."

Old Zhu was stunned for a moment, then realized, "This is the secondary capital. Should we leave a team of civil and military officials here in the future?"

“Not at all, that would be too wasteful,” Zhu Xiong Ying said with a smile. “It’s just that if we go to Beiping, it will be difficult to handle affairs in the south for some time. I plan to leave some princes in the Imperial Clan Court, as well as some officials from the Governor’s Office and the Six Ministries here.”

There are two teams, but the team in Yingtian Prefecture is clearly sidelined. Of the civil and military officials here, apart from a very few who are true confidants and shoulder important responsibilities, the rest are basically idle and can only do odd jobs.

Old Zhu was somewhat skeptical; he knew that transmitting messages was inconvenient these days. However, he felt it was a bit of a waste to leave a team in Yingtian Prefecture.

This is quite characteristic of Old Zhu; he wants to squeeze every last drop out of all the civil and military officials, leaving them no free time whatsoever. But Old Zhu also understands that there are some things he simply can't manage!