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...
While Joo Yoon-young was taking care of the children, many people were extremely busy at the same time.
We need to consider the imperial examinations, prepare for spring planting, and absolutely not slacken our efforts in promoting the bank. And let's not forget the land tax reform, which has now officially begun.
The emperor will be very busy, and the civil and military officials below him will not be idle either. Unless they are some lazy officials, they should not think about taking it easy.
After resting for a night in Lian Qiongqiong's palace, Zhu Yunying went to court again and continued to discuss state affairs.
Upon returning to the Wuying Hall, Zhu Yunying received a secret report from Song Zhong. This wasn't an investigation report about Xia Yuanji, but rather information obtained by the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Korea.
Yi Seong-gye's fourth son, Yi Bang-gan, launched a coup to eliminate his younger brother, Yi Bang-won. Naturally, the more powerful Yi Bang-won emerged victorious. This marked Yi Bang-won's second major victory in the "battle for the throne," and the second time he had used the method of two princely rebellions to eliminate dissidents and place Yi Seong-gye under house arrest.
“This Yi Bang-won is somewhat similar to Yi Shimin,” Zhu Yunying couldn’t help but chuckle, saying, “He helped Yi Seong-gye establish the Joseon Dynasty, and his talents surpassed those of his brothers. Now, he’s killing his brothers, exiling them, and then practically placing his father under house arrest and seizing power. He’ll probably be usurping the throne soon.”
These things are quite interesting, and Zhu Yunying also felt that this matter should not be taken lightly.
As an emperor, he certainly wouldn't look down on someone like Li Fangyuan, and Zhu Yunying also felt that this was someone who needed to be taken seriously.
Therefore, it must be said that the rules established by Zhu Yuanzhang from the beginning were very good; the Ming Dynasty could not have seen such a struggle for the throne. In fact, if it weren't for Zhu Yunying ascending the throne now, but rather Zhu Yunwen, some of the imperial uncles would either be forced to commit suicide by fire or imprisoned.
Of course, Fourth Uncle will not establish a country in Japan; instead, he has already launched a rebellion to quell the rebellion.
Looking at Song Zhong, Zhu Yunying said, "Let the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial know about this matter."
The emperor can know these things first, but the court officials should also know about them later. After all, Korea is a vassal state that the Ming Dynasty does not recognize.
Ultimately, it was Yi Seong-gye who launched the Wihwa Island campaign and seized control of the Goryeo regime. He declared himself king and changed the country's name to Joseon. Even though he eliminated the influence of the former Goryeo King U and wanted to submit to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty never recognized him.
In fact, Yi Seong-gye was quite capable. He conquered the Jurchen tribes in the northeastern part of the Korean Peninsula through pacification and military force, extending his territory to the Tumen River at the eastern foot of the main peak of the Changbai Mountains.
Perhaps the reason why South Korea and North Korea will never forget Mount Baekdu is because of Yi Seong-gye. In fact, that's precisely why Mount Baekdu is called Mount Baekdu in North Korea. It's not only a sacred mountain for the Jurchens, but also a sacred mountain for North Korea.
Song Zhong and the others naturally knew what to do. The Embroidered Uniform Guard was no longer just monitoring officials. In fact, the Embroidered Uniform Guard hadn't always been monitoring officials. Even during the Hongwu era, when the Embroidered Uniform Guard was at the height of its power, they still did their share of intelligence gathering on neighboring countries.
Now, while the focus of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's work may not be entirely on intelligence gathering outside the Ming Dynasty, they are indeed continuously increasing their efforts.
This was also something that Joo Yun-young was looking forward to. He really didn't want to be caught up in internal strife all the time; he preferred to expand outwards.
Zhu Yunying knew very well that if he were to die one day, he would, barring any unforeseen circumstances, become the 'Taizong'. After all, the only 'ancestor' of the Ming Dynasty could only be Zhu Yunying, the 'Taizu'.
As Zhu Yunying's successor, he hoped to live up to the temple name "Taizong". Of course, if he was incompetent, or if the younger Zhu was not capable, it was very likely that he would not be able to obtain the rightful temple name "Taizong".
After finishing a long day's work, Zhu Yunying sang a little tune as he walked towards the Qianqing Palace. "Grandpa Emperor, that fellow Li Fangyuan has caused trouble again. His fourth brother has been exiled."
Old Zhu paused for a moment, then said, "It's from North Korea again? That bastard, how many times has he caused trouble now?! When brothers fight amongst themselves, they can't possibly come out unscathed."
Zhu Yunying smiled and nodded, saying, "So our Emperor Grandfather was indeed farsighted. Our Great Ming Dynasty's system of establishing the eldest son as heir can save a lot of trouble."
"Speaking of this, I have to talk about you," Old Zhu said irritably. "Although we follow the principle of primogeniture, all the members of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family are either in Yingtian Prefecture or Beiping Prefecture. What kind of situation is this?"
The reason why Emperor Zhu said this was largely because, in order to cultivate a successor, many emperors were accustomed to driving their other sons out of the center of power. This would save a lot of trouble and avoid a situation like a struggle for the throne.
Zhu Yunying laughed and said to Old Zhu, "Although our imperial uncles are currently in Yingtian Prefecture and our imperial brothers are here, we're not afraid of them causing trouble with these members of the imperial clan right under our noses."
Expelling the imperial clan from the center of power seems like a way to completely extinguish any inappropriate thoughts they might have. However, to be honest, it wouldn't be a problem for the imperial clan to be in the center of power, since they would never actually have access to authority or government affairs.
By releasing members of the royal family, they can gradually build their own power in the provinces. As long as certain individuals are prevented from accessing authority, things can be relatively stable.
Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunying and said with a smile, "You came to us to talk about this, probably because you want to launch a military campaign when the time is right?"
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