The Minister of Justice is seriously ill, and the Minister of Rites is currently imprisoned, which seems to have an impact on many matters in the court. However, in Zhu Yunying's eyes, these things are insignificant and will not affect the normal operation of the court.

Even in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, this was no big deal. In the past, he would often leave two or three ministers out of the six ministries, and the vacancies would last for several years. But even so, it did not affect the operation of the court. You have to know that at that time, the position of prime minister had been abolished, and the ministers of the six ministries were directly responsible to the emperor.

The main reason Old Zhu came over was to offer some words of comfort to Young Zhu. Old Zhu was used to such things, but he was worried that Young Zhu might encounter something like this in his second year in power and was a little flustered.

After reviewing the memorials, Zhu Yunying accompanied the old Zhu for a stroll around the palace. Besides discussing matters of state, the two also inevitably talked about the affairs of the imperial clan.

For example, Zhu Yunying has quite a few uncles and aunts, some of whom are only just reaching marriageable age. Including the heirs of princes, their marriages obviously cannot be decided by themselves. Even if Zhu Yunying doesn't directly make the decisions, he at least needs to consider them.

Even if there were mutual feelings between them, or if they had submitted some memorials, Zhu Yunying still needed to consider it carefully.

"Today, Ru Chang recommended some candidates for Minister to my grandson, and we are considering them carefully." After seeing off his eleven-year-old twentieth uncle, Zhu Yunying said to his father, "Huang Guan is capable and talented, but we think he is too young and not suitable for the court."

Old Zhu thought about it carefully, then asked somewhat uncertainly, "Is that person not even forty yet?"

Zhu Yunying smiled and nodded, saying to Old Zhu, "He became the top scholar at the age of twenty-eight, and he's only thirty-seven now. We're thinking it would be better if he gained a few more years of experience and returned to the central government after he turned forty."

Old Zhu nodded slightly and said to Zhu Yunying, "That makes sense. He's too young now. If he were to become Minister now, he might stay in office for twenty or thirty years, which isn't a good thing. Our Ministers only serve for a few years before being replaced."

This is a conservative estimate. According to Zhu Yuanzhang, some ministers would be removed after serving for a few years. It was clearly impossible for them to hold onto power in high positions for long; Zhu Yuanzhang would not allow their influence to grow too great.

Zhu Yunying continued, "Actually, I was thinking of letting him go down and gain some experience."

Hearing Zhu Yunying say this, Old Zhu couldn't help but frown, "Tell me, tell me what your thoughts are?"

Although Old Zhu didn't remember Huang Guan's actual age, he was well aware of Huang Guan's talent and abilities. In Old Zhu's eyes, Huang Guan needed to be nurtured, and he was indeed a person worth cultivating.

“Grandfather, we have considered this carefully beforehand. We have learned a bit by listening to people talk about the past and reading historical records,” Zhu Yunying said to the old Zhu. “When it comes to factional strife, the Song Dynasty was the most intense period.”

Zhu Yuanzhang was well aware of the factional strife, and he was even more aware of how cruel the factional struggles were during the Song Dynasty.

The factional strife in the Northern Song Dynasty truly intensified starting with Emperor Zhezong, a struggle between the old faction and the new policies. Going back further, it began with Emperor Zhenzong, where Kou Zhun and Wang Qinruo also engaged in considerable conflict. Later, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong, the factional strife between the reformists represented by Wang Anshi and the conservatives represented by Sima Guang reached its peak.

Factional strife has always been one of the main culprits exacerbating internal strife within the imperial court. Emperors went to great lengths to prevent officials from forming close private cliques and disregarding national interests.

If the partisan conflict stems solely from differing political ideologies, it's somewhat acceptable. However, some partisan conflicts begin based on factors like region, background, and so on, which is rather unacceptable.

Zhu Yunying continued, "Grandfather, our Ming Dynasty is different from the Song Dynasty. At this stage, civil officials should not expect to be so comfortable and are unlikely to be able to rest easy. As long as our military officials continue to maintain their vitality, it will be difficult for civil officials to rise to power."

Old Zhu was quite proud and said to Zhu Yunying, "While we are in power, they can't cause any trouble. When you are in power, those people shouldn't rely on you either. Even if we are both gone, it will probably take several decades or even a hundred years before the civil officials can really stand up for themselves. That will be because our emperor and military officials are not up to par."

That's the point. As long as the military elites still have some ability, the civil officials shouldn't expect to 'cover the sky with one hand'.

Zhu Yunying then continued, "Whether the civil officials become too powerful is not our concern right now. What we are thinking about now is that the civil officials help us govern the country as much as possible."

Old Zhu listened attentively, while Zhu Yunying continued, "We think that these civil officials can't stay in Yingtian Prefecture forever. Those officials are skilled at writing and can write beautiful articles. But writing good articles and being a good official are two different things."

Hearing Zhu Yunying say this, Old Zhu naturally agreed, as he himself had a deep understanding of this matter.

Nowadays, many people enter officialdom through the imperial examinations, which is quite different from when Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the country and "did not ask about one's background".

These people are very good at writing, but many of them have been studying since childhood, spending years studying without paying attention to worldly affairs. Naturally, they don't understand the hardships of ordinary people, or rather, they don't have much ability.

“That’s what we’re worried about right now. If our court is full of people who only know how to read books and don’t understand the ways of the world, then things will be difficult,” Zhu Yunying said to Old Zhu. “So we’re thinking that, let’s not even talk about the six ministers, but even the vice ministers should be made officials who are close to the people.”

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