Zhang He has been dead for ten years. During his lifetime, he was the hereditary Marquis of Hanghai, and after his death, he was posthumously granted the title of Duke of Anguo. This was indeed a beautiful story, a story of harmonious relations between ruler and minister. However, it seems that this beautiful story may be becoming a thing of the past.

Old Zhu also sighed and said, "We've always had a regret. Hu Dahai was our beloved general. We had repeatedly ordered the prohibition of alcohol, but that good-for-nothing Hu Sanshe insisted on brewing it. If we hadn't killed him, our laws would have become a joke. But we never expected that Jiang Ying, that scoundrel, would kill Hu Dahai and also Hu Guanzhu."

The Duke of Yue was indeed someone that Zhu Yuanzhang regretted, especially since Hu Dahai was essentially childless.

The eldest son was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and the second son died alongside Hu Dahai. It is indeed a great pity that such a valiant general, who recommended Liu Bowen, Song Lian, and others, met such an end.

Zhu Yunying could only advise, "Grandfather also did not expect Jiang Ying to betray us, nor did he expect that Hu Dahai, a hero of his generation, would die at the hands of a villain. If Hu Sanshe were in our hands, we would kill him too."

We have no choice but to kill them. If we don't, laws and regulations will become a joke, and we won't be able to command the army.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunying and said seriously, "We've killed a lot of people, we've killed many brothers who followed us from the beginning. We've dealt with those who needed to be dealt with, and we don't want you to kill so many people in the future."

Zhu Yunying smiled and nodded. Killing meritorious officials did indeed have a bad reputation, but some people did deserve to be killed.

Zhu Yunying also felt that this life was not bad, because his existence had protected a large number of people. For example, Lan Yu, whose fate in history was very tragic. That major case also caused many nobles to suffer, and the number of people implicated reached more than 20,000.

Remembering something, Zhu Yunying asked curiously, "Judging from what you're saying, Grandfather, you only know that we're going to kill people, but you don't know how or who we're going to kill?"

There were nobles colluding with border generals and local officials to engage in smuggling. Emperor Zhu did know something about this, as Zhu Yunying had told him. However, judging from Emperor Zhu's tone, he seemed unclear about who was involved.

Old Zhu said irritably, "Our grandson is amazing! We admire his methods of managing his subordinates! We, the old emperor, are no longer on the throne, so who takes us seriously? That Song Zhong is a scoundrel. It was your father who suggested that he work for you. Now look at him, when we send someone over to ask him some questions, he just stammers and hesitates for ages."

Zhu Yunying was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, looking very smug.

Old Zhu glanced at his grandson with a hint of annoyance, then laughed happily; he was indeed not angry about the matter.

If he still coveted power, he wouldn't have abdicated in the first place. If he had a greater desire for power, he wouldn't have allowed the Great Zhu to directly review memorials for over a decade.

Leaving aside the fact that Zhu Yunying had been assisting Emperor Hongwu in reviewing memorials and controlling the court for many years, Zhu Yunying had already been emperor for four years, naturally wielding even more power. While Emperor Hongwu's prestige remained immense, for some officials, their loyalty was to Emperor Yingshi, not Emperor Hongwu.

Zhu Yunying said with no small amount of pride, "Then we really need to reward Song Zhong later. He's been quite stifled following our Crown Prince. Mao Xiang was so powerful back then, and Jiang Huan didn't dare to disregard our father's words. He seems to be living a glamorous life following our Crown Prince, but he's actually very cautious. We've sent him to the Embroidered Uniform Guard on several occasions, but he always manages to get rid of him."

Old Zhu couldn't help but laugh; times have changed.

When the emperor and the crown prince were both present, how could the crown prince have the right to interfere in certain matters?

In other words, either the emperor and the crown prince favored the crown prince, or the crown prince was overly interested in the affairs of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which could also be considered a crime.

"He's finally become a mother-in-law after years of hard work, and he's made something of himself following you." Old Zhu laughed and said, "Back then, you wouldn't let us kill Mao Xiang and instead exiled him to Japan and Korea. But we can't keep using Song Zhong and Jiang Huan forever."

Mao Xiang had a relatively good ending. As the emperor's henchman, he offended a lot of people, did all sorts of dirty work, and knew too many of the emperor's secrets. It's actually strange that such a person could have a peaceful end.

Although he was exiled, he at least died a natural death, and his descendants were not implicated, which can be considered a very good ending. After all, his descendants are doing quite well now, holding mid- to high-ranking official positions in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yunying understood this as well, and said, "Jiang Huan probably won't last many years. We'll have to find him a way out then, and that's up to him to decide. As for Song Zhong, we still need him for a few more years, so it would be a pity to waste him now."

Old Zhu remained noncommittal, saying that this was perhaps the best solution. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, but it also didn't have many merits; it was just like that.

Just as the grandfather and grandson were discussing important matters, a sound suddenly came from outside the Qianqing Palace.

Little Zhu's voice rang out, quite arrogant, "You all better watch out, or you'll be sorry if our little brother falls!"

Zhu Yunying looked at Old Zhu and complained, "I was raised by my grandmother, so I'm quite lenient with the people in the palace. Yin'er was raised by my grandfather, and although he doesn't resemble me much, he's still quite strict."

Old Zhu immediately looked at Zhu Yunying with disdain and said, "Your grandmother is good in every way, except that she taught you to be a bit too kind-hearted. Yin'er is like us. We don't mistreat others. If they do their job well and don't make any mistakes, would we punish them for no reason?"

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