Yan Zhenzhi was immediately delighted. The reason he had inquired about the news beforehand was naturally because he hadn't received any good news. Even though he came from the Crown Prince's family and was an old confidant of Emperor Yingshi, he was still just someone who feared the emperor's growing power over the years.

Seeing Yan Zhenzhi approach, Zhu Yunying chuckled and joked, "Our Minister of Works can only be seen during the morning court session. For him to request an audience in private, it seems our Ministry of Works Academy is short of funds again."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Yan Zhen knelt down directly and began to pour out his grievances. "Your Majesty must know that the academy supervised the construction of seagoing vessels and made many improvements to Fujian ships. Unfortunately, two of the Fujian ships that were rebuilt capsized before."

Zhu Yunying was genuinely in a bad mood. The Fujian ships were no ordinary vessels; their construction was expensive, and they were crucial to the Ming Dynasty's navy. Unfortunately, this was simply the price that technological advancements had to pay.

Ignoring Zhu Yunying's displeasure, Yan Zhenzhi continued, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Works Academy has previously dispatched many students and craftsmen to various garrisons to assist in the casting of cannons. In the important northern towns and southwestern border regions, not to mention the large cities and passes with bronze cannons, even the county towns have been filled with iron cannons in the past two or three years."

This was not Zhu Yunying's original idea. In fact, during the Hongwu reign, many garrisons in various regions cast their own iron cannons.

However, the old iron cannons were prone to bursting, and many were not well maintained.

From the early years when Zhu Yunying began to request the Ministry of Works to improve firearms, the initial cannons were mostly sent to the border troops, and indeed, a large reserve was needed for major battles. However, now that the court has some spare capacity, and with the manufacturing technology of bronze cannons and gunpowder becoming more sophisticated, it is natural to also deploy defenses in some garrisons and cities.

Zhu Yunying never took matters of security lightly, and he was indeed very concerned about the overall military preparedness of the Ming Dynasty.

However, these matters were never easy, and they also consumed a great deal of resources and provisions for the Ming Dynasty.

Yan Zhen glanced at Zhu Yunying's face and continued, "Your Majesty, although the instructors and professors of the Ministry of Works have ranks, there are still many shortcomings in the previous evaluations by the Ministry of Personnel. Furthermore, some officials of the Ministry of Personnel are simply lacking in the skills of the academies."

Hearing Yan Zhenzhi say this, Zhu Yunying was somewhat displeased. "It seems that Ru Chang is also confused. Our Ministry of Personnel's evaluation system needs a thorough overhaul. How can the craftsmanship of the Ministry of Works be compared with ordinary writing?"

Yan Zhenzhi meant just that. Having served as the Minister of Works for so many years, he was very knowledgeable about many skills. Some things, some matters, truly cannot be accomplished overnight.

Zhu Yunying looked at Yan Zhenzhi and said, "These are things we didn't consider thoroughly before. The Ministry of Works has many matters to attend to, and its evaluation system is indeed different from that of ordinary officials. Their performance records are not easy to discern."

Doing scientific research does indeed involve a bit of quiet, unproductive work, and expecting immediate results is unrealistic. Therefore, careful consideration is needed during evaluations.

“You should draft a report later. Some of the Ministry of Works’ evaluations shouldn’t be like this, especially the ones from the Academy,” Zhu Yunying said, but he still wanted to emphasize, “You should also understand that there is a difference between craftsmanship and engineering. Even if you treat craftsmen very well, you should still be mindful of the limits.”

Yan Zhenzhi had no objections whatsoever. He understood the emperor's thoughts perfectly well, which was also a characteristic of Emperor Yingshi.

Ultimately, this means that although Emperor Ying Shi treated many craftsmen with kindness, it does not mean that Emperor Ying Shi only favored and indulged the craftsmen.

Zhu Yunying was not indiscriminately harsh on some craftsmen. Even if he proposed some so-called scientific research ideas, it didn't mean that breakthroughs would be achieved immediately.

However, some pressure is necessary, and Joo Yoon-young is well aware that he has a lot to do.

Granting some artisans official positions and social status was arguably far better than the emperors of previous dynasties. However, sometimes excessive favors aren't necessarily a good thing, and some need for discipline and guidance are still necessary.

Yan Zhenzhi immediately understood; he clearly knew what Yan Zhenzhi meant and what he should do.

According to traditional rules, the evaluation of the Ministry of Works should naturally follow certain regulations. However, the current rules for evaluating the Ministry of Works' colleges need to be revised.

Zhu Yunying made the decisions on what to say and what to do, and his subordinates naturally knew what to do as well.

It looks like this is going to lead to a lawsuit, and the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Works will probably be embroiled in conflict for some time to come.

Zhu Yunying was not surprised at all by this, even though the source of the trouble might very well have been him. But it had nothing to do with it. In the end, it was just a matter of the emperor doing his duty as emperor, and the court officials doing theirs as court officials.

Having dismissed Yan Zhenzhi, Zhu Yunying felt much more at ease. In truth, Zhu Yunying believed that his court actually had quite a few capable officials who actually got things done.

Zhu Yunying also understood that his court was not entirely composed of capable officials; there were also some mediocre officials, corrupt officials, and even some so-called treacherous ministers.

However, Zhu Yunying was well aware that, overall, the Ying Shi Dynasty was still a clean and honest government, especially since it had just carried out a rectification campaign, and the slight resurgence of corruption had been suppressed to a great extent.

In a good mood, Zhu Yunying flipped through the memorials, knowing that he needed to do more than just deal with the lawsuits from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Personnel. He also had other things to prepare.

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