It would be a lie to say that Joo Yun-young didn't care about his reputation.

Having accomplished the affairs of the king and the world, he won fame both before and after his death.

This was the dream of countless scholars and officials, and even ordinary people. Zhu Yunying was no exception, but now that he was the emperor, he desired the long-term stability and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he was indifferent to some things.

If you call him a utilitarian, Zhu Yunying wouldn't disagree now; in fact, he truly is that kind of person now.

"One is that taxes will never be increased, and the other is that the Lan Yu case didn't happen. It seems alright." Zhu Yunying muttered to himself, looking a little smug. "History books, especially the Ming History compiled by the Qing Dynasty, have smeared Old Zhu quite a bit. Although there were instances of killing meritorious officials, looking at it now, it doesn't seem that exaggerated."

Thinking about it this way, Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation might be a little better. Although Zhu Yuanzhang's great achievements need no further explanation, his reputation for killing meritorious officials is something that countless people talk about, and this can be considered Zhu Yuanzhang's biggest stain.

Those people probably didn't care why Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to eliminate some of his meritorious officials; they just thought that Zhu Yuanzhang liked to kill his meritorious officials.

Back at Chunhe Palace, Zhu Yunying was in a good mood. "Come, let me hear how well-behaved our daughter was today."

"Your Majesty, I would like to give you another prince." Xu Miaoqing walked over with a smile. She didn't need to be particularly afraid of Zhu Yunying. "If we have another daughter, I'm afraid Ruyi will be jealous, and Yin'er might not be too happy either."

Zhu Yunying couldn't help but laugh, and said in an annoyed tone, "That brat doesn't care about us at all! He's always causing trouble for Grandfather, and we can't control him anymore. Not only is he naughty now that he's grown up, but he also knows how to undermine his father."

Xu Miaoqing didn't join in criticizing Xiao Xiaozhu, mainly because she was aware of some of Xiao Xiaozhu's behavior.

Actually, it would be a lie for Xu Miaoqing to say she wasn't reluctant to let Xiao Xiao Zhu go now that he was by Lao Zhu's side. But some things she could only accept by gritting her teeth. At least Xiao Xiao Zhu had spent a lot of time with her in the past two years, and besides, Xiao Xiao Zhu now came to the East Palace to pay his respects almost every day, so it wasn't a problem.

Just as Zhu Yunying said, he received similar treatment when he was a child. It was even more extreme than that of the young Zhu Yunying; he was basically taken away by the old Zhu and Empress Ma to be raised as soon as he turned one month old. At that time, the eldest Zhu could visit his son every day when he missed him, but Zhu Yunying's birth mother, Lady Chang, had to specifically request permission to visit him.

There's really no big problem, after all, Xiao Zhu and Xiao Zhu, as well as Xu Miaoqing, have a very close relationship.

Little Zhu, on the other hand, is two-faced. He tells Old Zhu he's closest to him, but in front of Little Zhu, he obviously likes Little Zhu the most. If Xu Miaoqing were to ask, Little Zhu would answer without hesitation that his favorite person is his mother.

The adults were well aware of the little rascal's self-righteous tricks. It was just that Zhu Yunying didn't care much, while Old Zhu and Xu Miaoqing were already completely fooled by little Zhu, willingly letting the self-righteous little guy manipulate them.

I gently placed my ear against Xu Miaoqing's lower abdomen to listen. Actually, Xu Miaoqing's lower abdomen was only slightly protruding. At this time, it was practically impossible to hear fetal movement.

However, Zhu Yunying and Xu Miaoqing enjoyed it immensely, which was considered a source of fun for the young couple, especially since they had a child.

Xu Miaoqing said softly, "Your Majesty, I heard that there were many important events in the court today. Should we let the Second Prince and my sister know about them?"

"The second brother and the others don't need to know these things. He doesn't have a voice in the court anyway," Zhu Yunying said irritably. "That brat, we wanted to give him a position in the Imperial Clan Court, but he kept making excuses. We heard that he was urging the fifth uncle and the others to go sightseeing."

Xu Miaoqing found it somewhat amusing, but not entirely unexpected. "The Second Prince is inherently benevolent. If His Majesty truly issues an edict, I believe he will certainly be able to carry it out."

This can be considered giving Zhu Yunwen face, as everyone knows that Zhu Yunwen is such a spoiled brat. If you ask him to do something, Zhu Yunwen will probably do it seriously, but you can't expect the boy to be conscientious, and those tasks can't be too difficult.

Although he didn't intend to let Zhu Yunying and the others know certain things beforehand, Zhu Yunying still instructed them, "Remember to call over our relatives later. We're about to issue an edict that taxes will never be increased again. From now on, our relatives should also be a little more careful."

Xu Miaoqing was taken aback, somewhat caught off guard and finding it hard to understand. "Your Majesty, no more taxes?"

Xu Miaoqing's attitude is perfectly normal; not to mention Xu Miaoqing, most people would probably think it's simply unbelievable.

If she were just an ordinary noblewoman, the promise of never having her taxes increased would certainly please Xu Miaoqing, as it would essentially mean that her family's wealth would increase.

However, as the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, and having not been completely uneducated or ignorant since childhood, Xu Miaoqing did not consider herself comparable to Empress Ma. However, she was also quite knowledgeable and knew the enormous burden that the policy of never increasing taxes could place on the court.

Valley

Seeing Xu Miaoqing's worried expression, Zhu Yunying smiled and said, "Don't overthink it. We're preparing to merge the poll tax into the land tax. In the future, wealthy households with more land will have to pay more taxes, and it will be more difficult for them to evade taxes or shift the tax burden."

In fact, Zhu Yunying was well aware that, not to mention now, even hundreds of years later, there would still be people who would try to evade taxes, and some people would still be able to slip through the net.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!