Zhu Yunying naturally attached great importance to the education of his eldest son, Zhu Yunying. This was his first child in two lifetimes.

Leaving aside his special feelings for the child, Zhu Yunying also understood the special status of little Zhu. He was the Crown Prince, the heir apparent of the Ming Dynasty. In these eras of highly centralized imperial power, an emperor's character was absolutely a matter of concern for the entire nation.

Little Zhu absolutely cannot be treated haphazardly; this little guy needs better education. Zhu Yunying doesn't expect Little Zhu to be a saint, and a little spoiling is understandable. But this little guy absolutely must distinguish right from wrong; that's Zhu Yunying's requirement for Little Zhu, and of course, it would be best if he were also wise and capable.

Zhu Yunying, who continued to preside over the court, appeared to be a young emperor, but political affairs were nothing new to him; he handled them with ease. This was something he had honed over many years of managing state affairs, and Zhu Yunying was indeed very adept at many things.

Zhu Yunying was in a good mood, especially when the court was discussing the rewards for meritorious officials, there were almost no objections.

As for the civil officials, there's not much to say. They've been suppressed for years and haven't had the same strength as the military officials. Furthermore, in the Ming Dynasty, it wasn't yet the case that civil officials could boss around many military generals. Unlike the Song Dynasty or the later Ming Dynasty, where civil officials disregarded military generals or even treated them like slaves.

Wu Xun naturally had no objections. Even if a few new people joined, they would belong to the Wu Xun Group and share the same interests. Under such circumstances, there was even less need to worry about them opposing them.

In a good mood, Zhu Yunying strolled leisurely toward the Qianqing Palace. He planned to discuss some matters with his father, which were naturally some important court affairs and the formulation of future policies.

Old Zhu was in a good mood. As he looked at the memorial approved by Zhu Yunying, he looked up and saw his eldest grandson, whom he was extremely proud of.

"Ying'er, you're still not ruthless enough!" Old Zhu said directly to Zhu Yunying, "What we hate most are corrupt officials. These people must be killed! Kill one to warn a hundred, so that they will know fear and dare not reach out recklessly!"

Zhu Yunying roughly understood and said with a smile, "Your grandson didn't show any mercy either; he made this man do hard labor. He was a bit greedy, but at least he did some work. What we fear most are honest officials, but those who hold positions without doing their jobs, those mediocre officials."

Corrupt and incompetent officials are both deserving of hatred. Expecting an official who is both incorruptible and exceptionally capable is extremely rare; they are practically impossible to find. Zhu Yunying indeed felt that such officials were few and far between, or rather, he rarely saw their names appear on his desk.

Old Zhu didn't say much; he'd seen plenty of these kinds of things. He'd seen capable corrupt officials and honest officials who only cared about their reputation, but it was hard to say who was more harmful.

Zhu Yunying didn't care about those things and said to his grandfather, "Grandfather, I'm planning to do something around these days. We think now is a good time to talk about land reform."

Old Zhu instinctively wanted to test his grandson, after all, he was the retired emperor and Zhu Yunying's grandfather. "Ying'er, why do you say that now is the right time to do those things? You must understand that if you talk about these things, the people below will definitely cause a commotion."

Zhu Yunying was not surprised at all, because he knew that some of the policies he had formulated seemed to have some benefits, but they would definitely cause a lot of backlash, which was not surprising.

Thirty-one years have passed since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and the country can be considered peaceful and prosperous. The national strength of the Ming Dynasty can be described as thriving, and there is no doubt about that.

Therefore, many wealthy families emerged during this period. Some of them even had considerable wealth during the Yuan Dynasty. When Zhu Yuanzhang was conquering the country, he did not wipe out all the wealthy families. In fact, he won over many of them and protected their interests.

Moreover, despite many civil officials proclaiming that they should not compete with the people for profit or that they should help the world, the interests they represent belong to the landlord class.

"At least for now, this year seems relatively peaceful, with favorable weather and no major problems," Zhu Yunying said with a smile to Old Zhu. "Furthermore, we just won a great victory, and we don't plan to wage war again anytime soon, but we can't let them be idle either."

Old Zhu immediately perked up and said to Young Zhu, "Great! This is a good time! The court is stable, and we don't need to worry about border troubles. If those people make any trouble, our army can be mobilized immediately, and we can reclaim a lot of land."

"Yes, that's what I think too," Zhu Yunying laughed, extremely proud. "Anyone who dares to bare their teeth, anyone who dares not to admire our governance, we dare to kill! We'll kill them one by one, clan by clan, and see who's truly ruthless!"

That being said, Zhu Yunying was well aware that he had indeed taken away the interests of many people, which would definitely cause a backlash from many, but there was no need to worry about chaos.

Ultimately, Zhu Yunying didn't directly slam the table or intend to destroy everyone's livelihood. Those landlords and others only felt the pain, but had no choice but to swallow the pill and accept their fate of being slowly boiled like frogs in water.

Ultimately, this is because the Ming Dynasty has only been established for thirty years, and its foundation is still relatively weak. Even though there are some powerful factions entrenched in the country, their roots are not particularly deep, making it relatively easy for Zhu Yunying to uproot them.

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