Although it gained some power and underwent significant adjustments, the reorganized Directorate of Ceremonial, ranked after the Directorate of Palace Attendants, remained a general office for eunuchs. After all, Emperor Zhu was extremely strict in his control over eunuchs, and the Directorate of Ceremonial's duties were limited to trivial matters of daily life; other political tasks were not to be delegated to them excessively.

Previously, he obeyed the retired emperor, but he always obediently followed the orders of Emperor Xiaokang and Emperor Yingshi. The matter of Emperor Hongwu was a major issue, but the matters of those two were even more important.

In a good mood, Emperor Zhu looked at the young eunuch and asked, "What is the Emperor busy with?"

The eunuch in the court immediately said, "His Majesty seems to be looking at memorials. This servant is of low rank and dares not inquire."

Old Zhu nodded slightly. He had once cast an iron plaque and hung it at the palace gate, which read, "Eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in government affairs; those who violate this rule will be executed." This was a warning and deterrent to these eunuchs. Old Zhu harbored a deep-seated distrust of the eunuchs.

After thinking it over, since he had nothing else to do, Old Zhu decided to go and take a look. He not only wanted to see his grandson, but also to listen in. His great-grandson was going to do something important; it could even be considered Little Zhu's debut in handling some matters.

Although it was still a bit cold outside, Old Zhu didn't plan to ride in a sedan chair or anything like that. Over the years, his precious grandson had kept him busy, always making him move around, and he even practiced Tai Chi and Five Animal Frolics, which his grandson had learned from who-knows-where.

Upon arriving at the Wuying Hall, Old Zhu joked, "You're quite bold, aren't you? You don't even care about our lives, and you let a kid take care of yours."

Zhu Yunying chuckled, genuinely somewhat confident. "If we were on the battlefield, we certainly wouldn't dare. But under the Emperor's nose, we're not afraid. Our Yin'er isn't ignorant either; he's been to Yingtian Prefecture countless times. What's there to be afraid of?"

Old Zhu chuckled and said, "We still need to be careful about this. If something happens to us or you, not to mention Yin'er is with us, this is a big deal. None of the three of us can get into trouble."

“I understand, but I’m worried that Yin’er might feel uncomfortable.” Zhu Yunying said with a smile, “On the surface, we will definitely let him take the lead. If he does well, we really won’t interfere at all. If he doesn’t, we will have someone follow him secretly.”

Hearing Zhu Yunying say this, Old Zhu was quite satisfied, as he actually shared the same thoughts and ideas.

Since the goal is to give Xiao Zhu some experience, it's natural to give him more opportunities and authority; otherwise, such an experience would lose its meaning.

Old Zhu casually flipped through the memorials, in a rather good mood. "You know, you're getting lazier and lazier these days. You've just given so many memorials a perfunctory review?"

Zhu Yunying smiled, not really bothered by some things. "Grandfather, you read these memorials in your younger years, many of them from civil and military officials. I'm really too lazy to say anything more. Now, instead of writing eloquent articles, these memorials often just waste our time."

Old Zhu laughed and teased, "Is this what you wanted the Directorate of Ceremonial to do? We've said eunuchs shouldn't interfere in politics, and you still want them to help you review memorials?"

In fact, according to Emperor Zhu's regulations, eunuchs were not allowed to be literate. The power of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs grew steadily, particularly during the Yongle and Hongxi reigns. However, nowadays, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs is basically only good for assisting with official duties.

Zhu Yunying made way for Zhu Yuanzhang, massaging his shoulders as he said, "We definitely need to maintain checks and balances. It's not just the civil and military officials who need checks and balances; the inner and outer courts also need them. Eunuchs, in the end, are still our royal family's servants."

Zhu Yunying's statement was clearly agreed upon by Zhu Yunying, and in fact, Zhu Yunying believed that eunuchs were just household slaves.

As for checks and balances, they are also very necessary. Although the current emperor holds great power, there are some things that need to be considered, and checks and balances are inevitable sooner or later.

“My grandson is a diligent person and doesn’t like to be lazy, but there are indeed a lot of things to do,” Zhu Yunying said to his father. “It’s just that there are many complicated matters. We certainly have to handle the important matters. It’s just that these many trivial matters are really taking up too much time.”

Old Zhu naturally understood all this. Even though he was a diligent person who wanted to care about and solve every little thing, no one had more say in how tiring it was than Old Zhu. It was indeed too tiring.

Hearing Zhu Yunying say this, Zhu Yunying fell silent. There were indeed some things that needed to be considered. Ultimately, both the Hongwu Emperor and the Yingshi Emperor were extremely controlling individuals.

When Zhu Yuanzhang first created the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty," he made arrangements for everything, big and small, with the intention that future generations would simply follow the rules in the book, which would essentially ensure the dynasty's longevity. Zhu Yuanzhang also believed that this was the safest approach.

The same was true for Zhu Yunying. Sometimes he wasn't just thinking about things one or two years from now, but about things fifty or a hundred years from now, and about the trends of historical development.

Therefore, it is normal for Zhu Yunying to have to consider some things and make some arrangements in advance. This can be considered a result of the personalities of the grandfather and grandson.

At this moment, the Wenhua Hall was filled with important officials, or rather, those who could come to the Wenhua Hall were all the emperor's confidants.

Don't even mention the Crown Prince wielding too much power. Aside from the fact that he had personal eunuchs serving two generations of emperors, that alone speaks volumes about the attitudes of the two supreme rulers. Most importantly, he had no shortage of imperial edicts and military tallies, which is even more convincing.

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