Xu Yingxu decisively stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the restoration of the Ming Dynasty is all thanks to the great talent and strategy of the Retired Emperor..."

At this moment, Xiao Zhu spoke up, saying without any politeness, "Marquis Wucheng, there is no need for flattery in the court. The great achievements of His Majesty the Great Emperor are known to all. Let's discuss matters directly and not say more."

Some civil officials suddenly felt a surge of emotion, as if they were experiencing the same joy that Wu Xun had felt back then. They were still quite happy to see Wu Xun suffer a setback. However, upon further reflection, they realized that this was, after all, the great-grandson of the Hongwu Emperor, and in reality, it was all the same.

Back then, Emperor Hongwu, disliking the flowery language in some civil officials' memorials, angrily punished Ru Taisu. This marked the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's practice of making memorials as concise as possible. Now, Ming officials' memorials omit many unnecessary words, directly explaining the reasons.

This also made many civil officials feel uneasy. They didn't have many opportunities to meet the emperor. They could have shown their literary talent to the emperor by submitting memorials with eloquent articles. Unfortunately, such a good opportunity was cut off early on.

Even more so, it seems that the military officials are the ones who are currently suffering setbacks. But by the same token, when it comes to flattery and sycophancy, civil officials can also be even more obsequious and unscrupulous, or subtly and quietly.

If Emperor Ying Shi gets serious, it will be a little more difficult for civil officials to sing his praises or flatter him in court.

Zhu Yunying seemed not to understand the civil officials' concerns. He smiled and said, "The Crown Prince is right. The discussions in the court are all about important military and national affairs. If it is about praising and flattering, there will be a banquet. The Censorate will keep a record of any officials who engage in flattery in the court in the future."

In reality, Zhu Yunying understood that even though he had spoken out now, the Censorate would likely record the words and actions of those sycophantic officials. However, whether the emperor would punish those officials for such matters was actually hard to say.

Now that the Crown Prince has brought these things up, the Emperor has naturally adopted them. This not only upholds the Crown Prince's authority once again, but it can also be seen as the Crown Prince expressing his attitude to the civil and military officials and the people of the land.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty remained very pragmatic; they preferred to get things done. They didn't really care much about empty fame.

At this point, the civil and military officials naturally needed to shout that the Crown Prince was wise and the Emperor was brilliant. After all, it was only right for the Emperor and the Crown Prince to do this, and it was the attitude that a wise ruler should have.

This wasn't flattery anymore, and neither Zhu Yunying nor the young Zhu felt there was anything wrong with it. This time, they readily accepted the praise from the civil and military officials; it was the treatment they deserved.

Although he was slightly annoyed by his nephew's remark, Xu Yingxu wasn't upset at all. His nephew was so intelligent; he was sure he would become a wise and powerful emperor, capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility of governing the country.

Xu Yingxu was mostly happy and excited at this moment, as the golden age of the Ming Dynasty was beginning to take shape. This was thanks to the foundation laid by the Hongwu Emperor, coupled with the continued efforts of the Ying Shi Emperor.

If Emperor Yingshi had lived longer, and if he had remained so wise, the Ming Dynasty would have soon entered a golden age.

To put it more realistically, once young Zhu ascends the throne, he will essentially inherit a prosperous and powerful empire. At that time, even if young Zhu doesn't have many achievements, he will still have a good reputation in history books, which can be considered as enjoying the rich legacy left by his father and grandfather.

Xu Yingxu stopped thinking about it and focused on the important matter at hand. “Your Majesty, it has been nearly fifty years since the late Emperor Taizong raised an army to punish the tyrannical Yuan in the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty’s Zhizheng era. Now, the Ming Dynasty has been established for thirty-three years. Countless soldiers have fought in the north and south to punish the disloyal, and countless soldiers have died on the battlefield. Countless orphans and children have been raised by the court.”

At this moment, Zhu Yunying said, "Your Highness, have a good talk with Marquis Wucheng."

Although this wasn't something Joo Yoon-young had specifically instructed him to do yesterday, he had shared certain things and principles with Little Joo quite a bit. Therefore, under Joo Yoon-young's influence, Little Joo naturally also grasped some of these principles.

Looking at the civil and military officials, Little Zhu was not intimidated. "His Majesty the Great-Grandfather Emperor punished the tyrannical Yuan and restored the orthodox Chinese dynasty. China is a great nation and has always been a land of propriety. As Mencius said, 'Respect the elderly in your own family, and extend that respect to the elderly in other families; care for the young in your own family, and extend that care to the young in other families.' This is the ultimate truth and also a benevolent act of the Ming Dynasty."

No one seemed to find anything wrong with what Little Zhu said. It's undeniable that the Ming Dynasty's pension system and care for orphans and children were far superior to those of other dynasties.

Little Zhu continued, “His Majesty the Great-Grandfather Emperor came from humble origins and knew the hardships of the common people. His Majesty the Father Emperor cared for his people and it was the duty of a monarch to look after the people of the Ming Dynasty. The court should naturally support the orphans of the soldiers who died in service. The Ming Dynasty was able to establish itself in a chaotic world, suppress the rebellious, and maintain peace and tranquility thanks to the bravery of the soldiers and the army.”

Zhu Yunying nodded with a smile. His son, though mischievous, was certainly knowledgeable. Zhu Yunying was also quite satisfied with the boy's character. Although young Zhu was born into wealth, he was not ignorant of the hardships of ordinary people and did indeed have some concern for the world. This made Zhu Yunying feel satisfied and proud.

Little Zhu continued, "Father, I believe the court should provide for the orphans of soldiers who died in service to the emperor. Not only orphans, but also the widows and parents of soldiers, although the court provides compensation, I think supervision should be strengthened. Local prefectures and counties must not harass, exploit, or deduct from the families of fallen soldiers; such actions should be severely punished!"

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