Zhu Yunying handled political affairs with ease and basically without any problems.

While Zhu Yunying was busy, the old Zhu leisurely arrived at the Wuying Hall. Zhu Yunying quickly stood up and pushed some memorials towards the old Zhu, asking him to take a look. The old Zhu naturally accepted the memorials and carefully read through them.

Although he occasionally frowned, feeling that Zhu Yunying's handling of matters was not what he wanted, Zhu Yunying was used to it. Back when the First Emperor Zhu ruled as regent, he would often review memorials and have them reviewed, and there were often some decisions, big or small, that did not meet his expectations.

It's no big deal. Old Zhu is used to this, and Big Zhu and Little Zhu are also used to this way of doing things.

As for the way the matter was handled, it was not entirely in line with Lao Zhu's wishes, which is quite normal. Xiao Zhu and Lao Zhu do have some differences in their views on certain things, and such things are perfectly normal.

Zhu Yunying didn't say anything, continuing to busy himself with reviewing memorials. He needed to start preparing for spring plowing in advance; all these things had to be prepared ahead of time. After all, in an agrarian civilization, farming was of paramount importance.

Old Zhu put down the memorial, smiled, and asked, "Today in court, you didn't recognize the matter of leaving the palace? Do you really think no one else knows?"

Zhu Yunying didn't care at all, and was extremely smug. "They may know, but what can they do if we don't acknowledge them? Can they curse us?! We're not afraid that these people will think we're a tyrant and cause some kind of trouble with the resignation of the seal. If that happens, we don't mind getting rid of a few of them."

Old Zhu nodded in satisfaction; he couldn't be more pleased with Zhu Yunying's decision.

An emperor should act like an emperor. How can he be easily swayed by his civil and military officials? If an emperor doesn't have his own opinions, he will sooner or later be sidelined by his ministers and become a puppet.

There's no inherent downside to an emperor being domineering, although it might pose some hidden dangers. However, Emperor Zhu was well aware that he was a wise and insightful emperor, and he knew that his beloved grandson was an even more reliable and enlightened ruler.

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"We're thinking that your poem is, in our opinion, a masterpiece for all time." Old Zhu suddenly felt aggrieved and reluctant. "If you don't acknowledge it, someone else might just use it without permission. Besides, Ying'er's poem should also be passed down through the ages."

Zhu Yunying smiled, not really caring. "Grandfather, it's not like we're completely without intentions. We didn't mention our surname, but who would dare to use our given name? We had someone send the lantern to Lian Zining, and everyone knows what's going on."

Although it may be unnecessary, or even self-deception, the fact remains that if the emperor doesn't acknowledge certain things, there's nothing many people can do.

There's nothing wrong with what Zhu Yunying did. When the Jiajing Emperor in history held a grand ceremony, it wasn't just being pretentious; it was also part of his political maneuvering.

Even though he only obtained the throne by accident, he could still justify it with "righteousness," even though this "righteousness" was questionable. But so what? When the emperor started to renege on his promises, the ministers could only suffer in silence and accept it.

The Jiajing Emperor, who had no real power, dared to cause trouble as soon as he ascended the throne. The Yingshi Emperor, who held real power, was now even more adept at acting shamelessly, leaving his ministers even more helpless.

"That calligraphy was written by Ruyi, so if it's to be awarded to Lian Zining, then it's to him." Old Zhu was in a good mood and said, "We're not stingy people, it's good that good things happen to our own family. After all, it's not your calligraphy, you only mentioned your name, you didn't even dare to mention your surname."

“Then let’s go and deal with our son.” Zhu Yunying said with a smile, “If that kid doesn’t slack off, we’ll just consider it helping him make a name for himself. Even Grandfather has seen that lazy good-for-nothing.”

Old Zhu glared at him. Ever since he had his great-grandson, Old Zhu felt that his grandson wasn't actually that appealing anymore.

Old Zhu's meaning was quite clear: as long as Little Zhu disciplined his son, Old Zhu planned to discipline his grandson as well. There was absolutely no problem with that, and Old Zhu believed that his precious grandson would definitely make the right choice.

“Grandfather, it seems that Fifth Uncle doesn’t intend to go to Goryeo. In that case, we can only try to persuade the other Imperial Uncles.” Zhu Yunying said seriously, “We should make some preparations for this trip. We have indeed conquered a lot of land in Goryeo. We can’t always rely on the court to cover our losses.”

Zhu Yuanzhang understood that the imperial army had also captured a small portion of Goryeo's territory and had been sending officials to govern it, which was no small matter.

With an army stationed there, there was naturally no need to worry about major unrest. However, governing these areas was not an easy task.

Conquering a country is difficult. Governing a country is even more difficult. Young Zhu knew this, and Old Zhu naturally understood it even better. He knew how difficult it was to govern a place that had just been pacified by war, and he knew that winning back the hearts of the people was no easy task.

Old Zhu was very serious and said to Zhu Yunying, "Goryeo is even more difficult to govern. They say we share the same roots, but we think that's just empty talk. Goryeo has nothing to do with us. If we look at the history books, we haven't had any connection with them for thousands of years."

That's not wrong. About two thousand years ago, King Wu of Zhou, Ji Fa, destroyed the Shang Dynasty. King Zhou of Shang's uncle, Ji Zi, was unwilling to be a subject of the Zhou Dynasty, so he led his followers who were loyal to the Shang Dynasty to flee to the Central Plains, and eventually arrived in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula to establish Gija Joseon.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, Liu Bang's old brother Lu Wan was suspected by Empress Lü and once again embarked on the path of rebellion. His rebellion was suppressed, and his general Wei Man led more than a thousand people across the Yan Great Wall border and fled to Korea, where he replaced the descendants of Jizi and established Wiman Joseon.

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