As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, getting up early was an essential quality. Zhu Yuanzhang was the one who started this custom, and although Zhu Yunying complained countless times in private about his father's workaholic nature, he still had to obediently attend court, seemingly intending to carry on this habit.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Zhu Yunying had his own plans, but he waited patiently, not wanting to rush things.

The civil and military officials were all reporting on various matters, and Zhu Yunying either listened and instructed them to do their jobs, or he would simply offer his own suggestions, which was what he, as emperor, was supposed to do.

That's how an emperor should be; many things do indeed require the emperor's decision.

Looking at Ru Chang, Zhu Yunying suddenly said, "The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of government affairs, including the selection, evaluation, and granting of titles and honors to civil officials nationwide. With the end of the year approaching, the four departments of personnel selection, verification of titles, assessment of merits, and evaluation of achievements, as well as the administrative office, should be busy. The Ministry of Personnel should also pay attention to officials of the Ming Dynasty who are outstanding in ability and excellent in character."

Ru Chang immediately accepted the order and said with utmost respect, "Your subject obeys the decree."

Zhu Yunying nodded, but then said, "Since the time of the barbarian traitors, the Six Ministries have each taken on their respective duties and are in charge of important affairs of the court. The ministers of the Six Ministries are important officials of the country, but their ranks have never been high. My dear ministers, what do you think?"

The entire court was stunned. The six ministers were about to be promoted, or rather, there were finally civil officials who could theoretically rival the military officials?

Hu Weiyong was a traitor, and with this prime minister dead, there was naturally no longer a first-rank civil official. As for the previous so-called first-rank title of Duke Yansheng, that was merely a formality to give Confucius face; it was only nominal.

The civil officials were excited at this moment; after all, face is a matter of pride, and they naturally hoped their status could be elevated. In reality, none of the civil officials in the Ming Dynasty held the first rank, and they were all inherently inferior to military officials, which was not a good thing.

Ru Chang stepped forward, barely suppressing her excitement, "This is a matter of great importance; Your Majesty's decision is the only one that matters."

Zhu Yunying smiled slightly and slowly said, "In matters of state and military affairs, my dear minister, you should share my burdens. Each ministry should also discuss these matters and submit a report to me. Our Great Ming does not have a prime minister, so the ministers of the Six Ministries should also assist in managing these affairs. Our Great Ming is a balance of civil and military achievements; we must not overemphasize civil affairs and neglect military affairs, nor should we overemphasize military affairs and neglect civil affairs."

Many military officers were originally just bystanders, not particularly interested in getting involved in the affairs of civil officials. But now His Majesty has said something about 'emphasizing military over civil affairs,' what exactly does that mean?

Could it be that the Ming Dynasty's tradition of military officers holding high positions and suppressing civil officials was about to change at this time?

This won't do. The military officers are absolutely not used to this kind of thing. For the past thirty years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, many military officers have completely disregarded civil officials. In their eyes, they were the ones who conquered the Ming Dynasty, and those scholars were just basking in the glory. Why should these scholars be on equal footing with them, or even 'compete' with them?!

The civil officials were clearly quite excited at this moment, because they saw the possibility of rising in status. His Majesty had already shown goodwill; whether they could seize this opportunity and advance further depended on their subsequent performance.

At this time, the military officers also harbored some discontent, and they certainly did not want to see the civil officials rise in status.

However, as soon as some military officers raised their opinions, not to mention Xu Huizu, Lan Yu, Chang Mao and others immediately jumped out. Anyone who dared to bare their teeth would be cutting themselves off from the military ranks. Anyone who dared to obstruct His Majesty's grand plan would be directly challenged by military officers.

After the court session, Zhu Yunying came to the Wuying Hall and asked with a smile, "Wang Chengen, what kinds of tribute tea do we have?"

Tea culture has a long history in China. The tribute tea system originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty and was a symbol of Chinese feudal ethics, exclusively for the enjoyment of the royal family.

Tea culture in China has undergone many changes, with the renowned Tea Sage Lu Yu being one of its outstanding representatives. Many people believe that Lu Yu started the tea brewing culture, but that's not entirely accurate.

In the past, it was all about tea soup, but nowadays there's hardly any market for it.

Wang Chengen quickly replied, "Wuyishan has an imperial tea garden. The retired emperor cherished the people's strength, and now only the Wuyishan imperial tea garden remains."

This was also thanks to Old Zhu, who came from a poor background and knew the oppression that tribute tea placed on tea farmers. So he came up with the idea of ​​"only picking buds for tribute" and reformed the Tang Dynasty's method of roasting and boiling compressed tea cakes into the method of directly brewing loose tea leaves and "sipping it in one go," thus opening the door to China's thousand-year-old tradition of tea drinking.

Therefore, the tea culture of later generations was deeply influenced by Zhu Yuanzhang. From its elaborate beginnings to its natural state, and from its origins among officials and nobles to its widespread appeal, Zhu Yuanzhang's contribution to this transformation is undeniable.

Previously, tea cakes were made in various shapes and sizes, including dragon and phoenix shapes, and were the common people's preferred type of tea. Now, however, pan-fried green tea has become the norm. The black-glazed porcelain rabbit's fur teacups, which were popular in the Song Dynasty for their ability to easily observe the color of the tea liquor during tea competitions, have disappeared from the historical stage.

Thin, plain white porcelain also began to become popular at this time.

After all, the compressed tea of ​​the past was exquisite and luxurious, some even inlaid with gold and silver or added with spices. Zhu De's promotion of "abolishing compressed tea and promoting loose tea" also made tea drinking culture begin to return to simplicity and naturalness, which probably also conforms to Lu Yu's concept of "frugality and refined conduct".

Holding a cup of tea, Zhu Yunying observed its color. "Not bad. The Yixing teapots haven't come out yet. Maybe we really will have to start a series of them. We were the ones who created Tianjin, are we going to create the Yixing teapots too?"

Zhu Yunying still possessed a certain pride. Tianjin used to be just an ordinary little garrison. But now things were different; he had renamed Jinmen to Tianjin and built a city there.

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