Zhu Yunying laughed and said to his father, "That's what I think too. This is a good opportunity to select officials legitimately. Even if members of the Kong clan are capable of becoming officials in the future, they shouldn't even think about serving in Qufu."

If members of the Kong clan wanted to achieve something, Zhu Yunying would naturally not prevent them from becoming officials. However, if they wanted to hold official positions in places like Qufu, they should forget about it. Officials in the Ming Dynasty were not so special; they were all expected to follow the rules.

“Grandfather, my uncles and brothers should also do more things,” Zhu Yunying said to his father. “In the future, our Zhu family descendants should not be idle or unable to serve as officials. I have been thinking about this for a long time. In the future, the royal descendants should also participate more in the affairs of the imperial estates and the overseas trade of our Great Ming.”

A noble status is certainly desirable, but it can't be just that—noble. These members of the imperial family can't be treated like pigs. If they have nothing to do but keep producing offspring, that's not a good thing. Although the privileges of the imperial family have been somewhat reduced, they are still exceptionally well-treated in the Ming Dynasty.

After discussing some matters with Old Zhu, Old Zhu stayed with him until the end of dinner. Originally, Old Zhu wanted to return to the East Palace, but seeing Old Zhu's eager gaze, he had no choice but to stay in the Qianqing Palace. There was nothing wrong with resting there.

Little Zhu was also brought back, and he was overjoyed. "Great-grandfather, Yin'er is going to be a big brother again!"

"Yes, our Yin'er is going to be a big brother again." Old Zhu said with great joy, holding the little Zhu who rushed over to him. "Our Yin'er will definitely be a good big brother, just like your royal grandfather, just like your father."

Little Zhu snuggled into Old Zhu's arms and said proudly, "Great-grandfather, Yin'er is the best big brother, not Dad!"

Old Zhu chuckled and asked, amused, "Oh? Why do you say that?"

"My dad only likes my second uncle and my little aunt. I've never even seen my eldest aunt." Little Zhu whispered, nestled on Old Zhu's shoulder. "My second uncle said that Dad is the most petty-minded."

Being spoken ill of to his face made Xiao Zhu feel embarrassed. But there was nothing he could do but let it be. Of course, Lao Zhu was happy at this moment, probably because some of the things his precious great-grandson said made a lot of sense.

Old Zhu knew his beloved grandson's personality perfectly well. As the next patriarch of the Zhu family, Old Zhu felt that his grandson handled many things very well and was a qualified head of the household.

But to be honest, his precious grandson, who is also the troublesome older brother of Yun-teng, is the one who is the best.

Zhu Yunying, who had gotten up early, began preparing to wash up. The light sleeper, Old Zhu, sat up on his side. However, he didn't get up, continuing to sleep with his great-grandson. Little Zhu simply nodded to his grandfather and quietly left the palace.

He went to court. What Zhu Yunying needed to do now was to attend court, which was an emperor's duty.

After all the civil and military officials had lined up, Zhu Yunying strode onto the dragon throne, and naturally, all the officials knelt in obeisance. This was also one of Zhu's proudest achievements; the status of his subjects was constantly being 'lowered,' and Zhu's contribution was indispensable.

In the past, the ideal of "harmony between ruler and subject" was that "if the ruler treats his subjects like dirt, then the subjects will treat the ruler like an enemy." This is probably why Zhu Yuanzhang (the Hongwu Emperor) disliked Mencius so much; he elevated the status of subjects too much. What Zhu Yuanzhang preferred was that if the ruler wanted his subjects to die, they had no choice but to die.

In particular, during the Song Dynasty, the emperor and scholar-officials jointly governed the country, and the relationship between the monarch and the scholar-officials was often that of guests, teachers, and friends. However, the tribal traditions of the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties emphasized the master-slave relationship, treating ministers as private servants, and there were many instances of whipping ministers. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was also common for ministers to refer to themselves as "slave" in their memorials.

With Zhu Yuanzhang (Emperor Zhu), imperial power became absolute. The scholar-official class never truly gave up and still sought to challenge the emperor. Even after Zhu Yuanzhang created the system of court flogging and abolished the position of prime minister and secretary, the scholars' ambitions were not completely extinguished.

Let's take it slow; these things can't be fully answered overnight.

Take it slow, Joo Yoon-young thought that many things should be done this way; you can't swallow a big fat person all at once.