Zhu Yunying naturally cared a great deal about Xiao Xiao Zhu's education; it was something that could not be taken lightly.

However, Zhu Yunying was extremely busy with state affairs. Although caring for the young Zhu was important, he couldn't just think about the young Zhu; he also had many important court matters to attend to.

For example, his birthday is approaching, which also means the end of the year is near, and this is when the Ministry of Personnel conducts its performance evaluation. As the year draws to a close, the imperial court needs to conduct more thorough reviews and assessments at various times.

Lian Zining also returned to Yingtian Prefecture. This time, the Censorate had offended quite a few people. It wasn't just the officials in the capital who were imprisoned, but also many local officials, because of the evaluations by the thirteen censors.

Zhu Yunying was in a good mood and summoned Lian Zining to the Fengtian Hall. "Pour the Left Censor-in-Chief a cup of tea. I remember there is quite a lot of good tea here. Pour the Left Censor-in-Chief a cup of good tea."

Lian Zining naturally thanked the emperor quickly, knowing that this was part of the emperor's emphasis on his ministers. However, Lian Zining also knew that his daughter and granddaughter were also a factor in this.

However, since they were in the Fengtian Hall, it was clear that they couldn't just chat about trivial family matters. More importantly, they needed to discuss political affairs, which was exactly the situation Lian Zining hoped to see.

He was proud of his children and pleased with his parenting skills. However, Lian Zining was also well aware that although his daughter was already a high-ranking official when she entered the palace, he also knew that Emperor Ying Shi needed to win her over. To put it bluntly, this was actually a way of winning over and bestowing favors upon the civil service.

Looking at Lian Zining, Zhu Yunying asked, "Did the Censorate find anything wrong with the governance of the prefectures and counties during its inspection tour this time?"

"Your Majesty, Chen Deng has seen quite a few problems during his inspection tour, some of which are quite shocking," Lian Zining said to Zhu Yunying with some concern. "The retired emperor used harsh laws to eliminate the tyranny of the former Yuan dynasty, but in the end, it is difficult to clean up the bureaucracy."

Zhu Yunying smiled and didn't think much of it. "Yes, this isn't just a problem in our dynasty. Every dynasty has had its share of corruption and bribery. Many officials and generals are only after fame and fortune."

This further convinced Zhu Yunying that he had no way, and it was absolutely impossible, to achieve clean governance. This was a protracted war, also because the divides in people's hearts were difficult to bridge, and many people had a continuous pursuit of 'new things'.

Zhu Yunying looked at Lian Zining, sighed, and said, "There's nothing we can do about it. Good governance can't just be advocated. It also requires continuous supervision and high pressure. If governance is not clean, the court and the people can't expect to be honest and upright."

This was Zhu Yunying's idea, and these were some of the principles he adhered to. Such things cannot be entirely expected to be done by relying on people's self-awareness.

Lian Zining felt a great responsibility. One of the duties of the Censorate was to supervise officials, and a clean and honest government was something many people aspired to. Not everyone is a corrupt official; many people wield power hoping to benefit the people, not to amass wealth through corrupt practices. A degree of trust was still necessary.

Zhu Yunying looked at Lian Zining and said, "According to the Emperor Emeritus's decree, the Censorate should be a model for all officials. However, this time, I have also seen many flaws in the Censorate, which has caused me great distress."

This is certainly true. The Censorate held a prestigious position, being the highest supervisory body in the Ming Dynasty. These officials were all censors, in charge of upholding the law and enforcing the law, which was no small matter and could easily offend people.

Because these censors needed to offend people, their sole purpose was to investigate and impeach officials, clear the names of those wronged, and oversee various circuits; they were the emperor's eyes and ears, responsible for maintaining discipline. Ministers who were treacherous, petty men who formed cliques, or those who abused their power and disrupted the government were impeached. All officials who were base, greedy, or corrupt in their conduct were also impeached.

This is also known as 'fighting'. Officials in the Ming Dynasty actually showed a trend of later officials seeking to stand out by speaking out.

Impeachment would be a major event, and if it were wrong, there would be no room for maneuver.

This is not only unfair to the officials who dared to speak out, but it is also not necessarily fair to the officials who were impeached. This is because Zhu Yuanzhang established a supervisory system based on the principle of "using the small to control the large, the lower to control the upper, with the large and the small checking each other, and the upper and lower maintaining each other."

This refers to the "Censorate System," which consisted of thirteen circuits of censors who were dedicated to investigating and impeaching corrupt officials in various departments, both inside and outside the capital. Some impeached officials openly, while others impeached them through sealed memorials.

At this moment, Zhu Yunying spoke up, saying, "Some people are indeed loyal and devoted when they first enter officialdom. But gradually, due to interpersonal relationships or changes in their original intentions, these people lose their original integrity."

The collusion among officials, and so on, are things that many people understand. The emperor's bringing them up now is merely a subtle reminder.

The imperial court needed a clean and honest administration, and important supervisory departments such as the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Court of Judicial Review had to ensure their own integrity. For them, if those they inspected were themselves tainted, they couldn't possibly supervise others.

Zhu Yunying dared not slacken in the slightest when it came to governing officials.

If Zhu Yuanzhang (Emperor Zhu Yunying) used harsh punishments during a chaotic period, it was in the hope of reversing the rampant corruption that had plagued the country since the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yunying was also extremely concerned about official conduct at this time, precisely because he feared that if the door was opened, corruption would resurface.

Even the best policies will become wasteful and exhausting if there aren't capable implementers. Zhu Yunying would be extremely frustrated if his hard work went wrong; he didn't want his efforts to become a laughing stock.

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