In the seventh year of Hongwu, the legitimate eldest grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was born.
He who resides as the legitimate heir will surely ascend to t...
Zhu Yunying was quite clear about some things, but he might not care about others. He understood the principle that "if the water is too clear, there will be no fish."
Although Zhu Yunying has been trying to reverse some trends that have lasted for over a hundred years, and has had some effect, it is not necessarily very effective.
For example, regarding matters like foot binding, Zhu Yunying did not allow his younger siblings to bind their feet. He even forbade some of his aunts from doing so.
Back then, the old Zhu and the eldest Zhu were quite angry, feeling that Zhu Yunying, the crown prince, was not doing his job properly and was only focusing on things that seemed unimportant.
It's not that Zhu Yunying is boasting, but after Empress Ma passed away, even though there were people like Consort Li who took over the management of the inner palace, Zhu Yunying still held the 'greatest' influence in the inner palace, even while the first Zhu was still alive.
Old Zhu and Young Zhu were in charge of affairs of the world and the court, but Young Zhu, who was not yet "in the limelight," just stayed around the capital.
Whether the concubines or older princesses in the harem had bound feet before was irrelevant, but after Xiao Zhu grew a little older, everyone in the harem had natural feet. Not only did the concubines and princesses no longer bind their feet, but even palace maids with bound feet were not allowed to enter the palace.
When people have certain preferences, it naturally attracts a lot of attention, and more and more people notice these trends.
Especially those from military families, they knew that the imperial family disliked foot binding. For example, the imperial uncles who were about the same age as Zhu Yunying all had unbound feet as their concubines. It seemed that the imperial family would arrange marriages for the daughters of military officials with bound feet at will, or even not care at all.
Having bound feet meant being considered inferior and naturally losing many opportunities. It's no wonder that Zhu Yunying was domineering; he needed to use such a strong attitude to convey his will. If people didn't follow his ideas, they couldn't expect Zhu Yunying to exclude them from his circle.
Actually, the families of military merit holders are a little better off now; many are from poor families and don't have much of a family background. These people also know that they can only become rich and powerful by closely following the imperial family.
On the other hand, some families with a long tradition of scholarship or prominent clans possessed a rich cultural heritage and their own philosophies of life. These individuals were also quite steadfast in their aesthetic judgments, and the century-long period from the Song to the Yuan dynasties was enough to subtly influence the aesthetic sensibilities of many.
Actually, it wasn't the so-called "three-inch golden lotus" anymore; often it was just "foot trimming" and the like. But Zhu Yunying wouldn't tolerate such practices.
Upon waking up, Joo Yoon-young found herself in a blissful predicament, even feeling a little embarrassed.
The main thing was that the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Old Zhu with his gray hair looking at him with that doting smile, a smile Zhu Yunying had seen many times before. But over the years, there were still times when he felt genuinely a little embarrassed.
"You're the one who said you wanted to watch a song and dance performance, and you're the one who wanted to sleep with them," Old Zhu laughed and said. "You didn't see it, but everyone was eager to dance in front of you, hoping to win your favor. And you, you just lay there and snored away."
Zhu Yunying wasn't embarrassed at all, and said, "Grandson has been working so hard, thinking about the affairs of the world and the country, how could I have time for personal feelings? Speaking of which, we've heard quite a bit of news these past few days. Many people in our bank are eager to make things difficult for us."
Old Zhu's gaze turned slightly cold as he said to Zhu Yunying, "We know you are kind and don't like killing. But remember this: if you don't kill, some people won't know how to be afraid of you! The kinder you are, the more those people will take advantage of you."
“Of course my grandson knows that some people have their own little schemes, but we can tolerate them.” Zhu Yunying laughed, casually looking around. “With Shuangquan and Wang Chengen not around, none of them have any sense of propriety. They didn’t even let me rinse my mouth after I woke up.”
Actually, this is also due to Zhu Yunying's domineering nature, or rather, the excessive authority of the old Zhu. When it comes to serving people, the palace eunuchs and maids are all capable of providing comfortable service. It's just that the old Zhu just chased them away, forbidding them from coming again.
However, now that Joo Yoon-young has spoken, everyone is naturally getting busy.
Old Zhu laughed and said, "With those two with Yin'er, we feel more at ease. The two of us are fine, we can handle it."
Zhu Yunying shared the same idea. In fact, either Wang Chengen or Shuangquan could go; others could easily discern the emperor's intentions.
The fact that Shuangquan, the former Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and Wang Chengen, the current Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, were both by the Crown Prince's side carries considerable weight and undoubtedly further highlights the Crown Prince's status.
Even though many people were well aware of the Crown Prince's status, this time many children of military and civil officials, as well as some students from the Imperial Academy, accompanied him on the trip. This was a large-scale, semi-official event, designed to once again allow young Zhu to steal the spotlight.
"We've had the bank's silver ready, so we're not afraid of a bank run," Zhu Yunying said calmly with a smile. "If anyone tries to cause us trouble, we won't kill them now. But we'll remember them, and those people won't have a good time in the future."
Old Zhu couldn't help but laugh; he was a petty person. He often kept accounts, and while he did have a habit of settling scores later, he was usually a man of quick revenge, killing quickly to settle the matter.
Xiao Zhu's habit is to kill without wounding the spirit; this guy often kills without drawing blood, leaving people with deep regret.
"Who am I? I am the emperor." Zhu Yunying laughed and said to his father, "Grandfather laid a good foundation, so we can act freely now. Grandfather killed a lot of people in the past few years, so it is easy for us to do things."
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