Zhu Xiong Ying lives in Fulong Palace. He seems to like his current lifestyle and is quite satisfied with it.

Zhu Xiong Ying, who got up early, practiced her swordsmanship at the training ground. After working up a sweat, she took a hot bath. She took great care of her health; in those days, even a common cold could be fatal.

Let alone the Crown Prince, even the Emperor and others sometimes cannot avoid such things from happening.

After a relaxing bath, Zhu Xiong Ying changed into casual clothes and strolled leisurely towards the main hall. At this moment, he couldn't help but admire his grandfather, the Emperor Zhu; the old man was truly an iron man, completely tireless, and absolutely worthy of respect.

Zhu Xiong Ying has a lot of official duties, and he has a lot of things to deal with right now.

Whether it was the construction of the capital city of Beiping Prefecture, the construction of the Tianjin garrison, or the dredging of the Grand Canal, these were all matters that Zhu Xiong Ying had to handle well. Moreover, Zhu Xiong Ying's work also included training troops and handling some administrative affairs of Beiping Prefecture, all of which he needed to manage effectively.

Looking at the report, Zhu Xiong Ying nodded in satisfaction. He felt he didn't need to follow his grandfather's example and didn't intend to do everything himself. He truly couldn't manage everything; he needed to delegate authority when necessary. For some matters, Zhu Xiong Ying only needed to grasp the general direction and keep them within his control.

After finishing his official duties, Zhu Xiong Ying wrote letters home at Fulong Palace; these were part of his job. Although he now lived in Beiping, Zhu Xiong Ying never lost contact with Yingtian Prefecture, usually through courier services.

Wang Chengen walked over and said softly, "My lord, the Duke of Cao has sent someone to report that the Tianjin granary has been completed."

The Ming Dynasty naturally had granaries, known as "Guangchuliang" (广储粮). Generally, these were divided into national granaries, local granaries, and some private granaries belonging to princes. Granaries were allocated not only in major residential areas but also along some sections of the Grand Canal.

Moreover, local granaries were more comprehensively categorized than those of the central government. They included not only the Ever-Normal Granaries set up by the central government in local areas, but also "charitable granaries" organized by the local people themselves. The Ever-Normal Granaries are easy to understand, as they were a type of granary established by almost every dynasty since the Han Dynasty. These granaries were mainly used to stabilize prices, especially grain prices.

Zhu Xiong Ying was quite satisfied. Jinmenwei itself was a transit point for the Grand Canal, a base for transferring military supplies to the border troops and Liaodong. In addition, with the need to develop Liaodong and prepare for war with Japan and Korea, there was naturally a greater need for military supplies here.

Zhu Xiong Ying then asked, "Who is escorting the grain transport this time?"

Wang Chengen spoke up and immediately replied, "Marquis Zhu Shou of Zhulu."

The name Zhu Shou is familiar because one of Zhu Di's descendants called himself "Duke of Zhenguo" and appointed himself "Grand General of Military Affairs and Commander-in-Chief," demanding that the Ministry of War keep records and the Ministry of Revenue pay his salary. This role-playing guy, because his zodiac sign was pig, once issued an edict banning the consumption of pork throughout the country.

Zhu Xiong Ying shook his head with a smile, merely checking the total amount of grain transported by the canal, and then said, "Send Huang Zicheng to the Tianjin Gate Guard."

Although Huang Zicheng was bookish to the point of being foolish and sometimes overly idealistic, Zhu Xiong Ying felt that such a person could be quite useful at times, and Zhu Xiong Ying liked to constantly change Huang Zicheng's positions.

Because Huang Zicheng was too pedantic, he could occasionally serve as an imperial censor. Previously, Zhu Xiong Ying had mentioned the matter of hierarchy in Zhu Jing's memorial to the emperor, but the emperor hadn't paid much attention. Now, Huang Zicheng was to remind him every now and then, the gist being that the prince's attire and other such matters absolutely could not be the same as the crown prince's, and that there could be no confusion between legitimate and illegitimate heirs, or any disorder in hierarchy.

This is Zhu Xiong Ying's stance: because he is now a beneficiary, he naturally needs to protect his own interests.

There's no harm in letting the headstrong Huang Zicheng take the lead. Moreover, Huang Zicheng is very happy and willing to do this kind of thing. It's something he's good at, and it's what he considers 'the proper way of things,' the great principle.

Zhu Xiong Ying thought such things were acceptable, and could be considered "making the best use of everyone's talents." Such critics and idealists could be useful in certain positions, at least far more so than being a staff member.

Huang Zicheng needs to go to Tianjin. Although he occasionally feels underutilized, he still plays a certain role. He should focus on his work and perhaps gradually become a trusted confidant of the Crown Prince.

Huang Zicheng felt that his task and responsibility were enormous. The Crown Prince himself valued merit and nobility, and he was not close to 'traditional Confucianism'. All of this made Huang Zicheng feel that the responsibility on his shoulders was even greater. He had to become the Crown Prince's confidant to prevent the Crown Prince from going astray.

Zhu Xiong Ying didn't care what Huang Zi Cheng was thinking or whether he had any unrealistic ambitions. For Zhu Xiong Ying, all he needed were people who could be of use.

Back in his study, Zhu Xiong Ying took out a small booklet, the words of which were naturally only understandable to him. It wasn't just simplified Chinese characters, but rather pinyin letters; over the years, Zhu Xiong Ying had been constantly recording things.

A bad pen is better than a good memory, so he tried hard to recall and record things, afraid that he would forget some things as time went by. And these memories and events were constantly being supplemented and improved by the beast.

In a good mood, Zhu Xiong Ying also received Xu Yun Gong's memorial, which Zhu Xiong Ying was quite satisfied with. He helped to polish it a bit and then sent it to Yingtian Prefecture. Old Zhu was keeping a close eye on things like gunpowder and firearms, and Zhu Xiong Ying didn't have many craftsmen at the moment.

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