“Even if my name is changed, they will still recognize me,” Zhu Yunying said with absolute certainty. “They have all watched me grow up and they all cherish me like the apple of their eye. I’m not bragging, but ever since I was born, my grandfather has never had a place in my grandmother’s heart.”

Old Zhu was displeased and said, "You know, there are some things you just don't understand. We're not like your grandmother; she only cares about us. I doubt she's even appeared in your dreams many times over the years, but she's always here with us, constantly nagging. We've gotten annoyed with her a lot, but she still comes to us!"

Looking at the smug old Zhu, Zhu Yunying couldn't help but say, "Speaking of this, Grandfather should talk to Grandmother about how she hasn't come back to see us many times."

Old Zhu laughed and said, "We won't come to see you then, and we won't allow your parents to come to see you either. We remember what you said when your mother passed away. When it's your turn to leave, our whole family will come to pick you up. Is that alright?"

Zhu Yunying nodded firmly and said to Old Zhu, "Good! When that time really comes, Grandfather, please remember to come and pick us up with Grandmother, Father and Mother. When our whole family is together, we will feel at ease."

As for matters of life and death, Zhu Yuanzhang had long since come to terms with them, and he never shied away from such things. Zhu Yunying, too, didn't care about these matters; having also "died once," he wasn't so bothered by many things.

This trip to Xiaoling was actually meant to ease Zhu Yunying's worries. It was something Zhu Yunying should do to ease his burdens before his departure.

As for the complaints and grumbles of the court officials, Zhu Yunying didn't care about them at all. Their advice and their complaints were irrelevant; he only needed to do what he was supposed to do.

Old Zhu slowly sat down, touching Da Zhu's tombstone. "Ying'er, if we're gone, what are you planning to do?"

Zhu Yunying understood what the old Zhu meant, and slowly said, "It goes without saying that the emperor can do things like rectifying officialdom, controlling the court, and governing the country. One of the things we need to do is move the capital, and this certainly cannot be delayed until Yin'er's time."

Everyone knew that the Ming Dynasty would definitely move its capital. Although nominally Emperor Hongwu was in charge of these matters and was one of his sons, it was certain that this massive project would be completed under Zhu Yunying's rule. This was no small matter, nor was it easy to accomplish.

Despite the continuous construction of Beiping City over the years and the considerable preliminary work done on the relocation of the capital, once Emperor Hongwu passed away, some people might jump out and try to persuade Zhu Yunying to change the decision to move the capital.

The reason, of course, is that the fundamental interests of many interest groups lie in the south, and moving the capital to Beiping would harm their interests. That naturally means that given the opportunity, they would certainly do their utmost to dissuade Zhu Yunying from moving the capital.

There's no doubt that the relocation of the capital will proceed smoothly. Zhu Yunying will definitely implement the policy forcefully, and he'll kill anyone who dares to obstruct it. Relocating the capital requires immense courage and skill, and Zhu Yunying is confident that he currently possesses both the prestige and the means to do so.

Besides the matter of moving the capital, Zhu Yunying had other things to do. "We started working on tax reform a couple of years ago, and these things will take some thought and time. We will definitely implement the Single Whip Law, and then the land system of our Great Ming will also need to be changed a bit."

Old Zhu wasn't surprised by this, but said, "Don't rush this matter. You can proceed slowly. You're still young, so just be steady and take it one step at a time."

Zhu Yunying naturally understood his father's meaning. Some things didn't need to be rushed, and Zhu Yunying still had some time. Overly drastic measures might not be a good thing.

There are indeed some things that don't need to be rushed, and time is relatively kind to Joo Yun-young. Therefore, it means that Joo Yun-young doesn't need to rush to get everything done all at once.

Especially matters concerning land and taxes—neither of these can be ignored; they are the true foundation of the nation. Failure in either of these areas could very well lead to political turmoil and threaten the very stability of the country.

These matters need to be treated with greater care, that much is certain, and Zhu Yunying is well aware of it.

Zhu Yunying understood all this, so he said to his father, "In recent years, my grandfather has accumulated considerable national strength for our Ming Dynasty, so we can make some moves. Although we have finished fighting in Goryeo, we are also preparing to deal with the Oirat Mongols."

The Oirat Mongols certainly need to be dealt with. They already possess considerable strength, and if they continue to develop, they might even have the opportunity to bring in a student emperor from the Ming Dynasty. But that won't do; the Zhu family's student emperor can't be sitting on the dragon throne.

However, Zhu Yunying also felt there was no need to worry so much. One of the Ming Dynasty's unparalleled war gods, a student who studied abroad, would never have the chance to sit on the dragon throne. In fact, it could be said that he wouldn't even have the chance to be born, so the possibility of him studying abroad was highly unlikely to come true.

“The Oirat need to be dealt with. The instability in the northwest is a potential threat,” Old Zhu said. “We’re just thinking that after all these years of constant fighting, the people should be allowed to rest and recuperate.”

Zhu Yunying said, "We certainly won't engage in endless wars. After dealing with the Oirat, we'll focus on conquering the South Seas. By then, our Ming Dynasty won't have many major wars. The number of founding generals is decreasing, and the veterans who survived countless battles are also losing their fighting strength. We need to hurry."

Hearing Zhu Yunying say this, Old Zhu could understand, "Alright then, just do what you can, we know you know what you're doing."

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!